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Satluj Yamuna Link Canal or SYL as it is popularly known, is an under-construction long canal in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
to connect the Sutlej and
Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
rivers.
However, the proposal met obstacles and was referred to the Supreme Court of India. It was defined as river water sharing between the states of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
and
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...
.


History

After the partition of India in 1947 into
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and India, the
Indus basin The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
was bisected with India gaining the upper reaches of the Indus river and its tributaries while Pakistan gained the lower reaches. This led to a situation in which utilisation and development of water resources in one country would hamper the same in another. While negotiations for resolving the dispute were in progress in 1954, activities same as in India had already started in India in anticipation of a treaty. Although the issue of water of Sutlej river was resolved through the
Bhakra Nangal project Bhakra may refer to: *Bhakra Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located ...
, the issue of surplus waters of
Ravi river The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...
and
Beas river The Beas River (Sanskrit: ; Hyphasis in Ancient Greek) is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is ...
excluding the pre-Partition use remained. On 29 January 1955, the states of Punjab, PEPSU,
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
and Jammu and Kashmir came to an agreement regarding the distribution of water from the rivers, with Punjab being allocated 5.9 MAF (million acre-feet) and PEPSU gaining 1.3 MAF out of the estimated 15.85 MAF of water while Rajasthan gained 8 MAF and Jammu and Kashmir gaining the remaining 0.65 MAF. With the merger of Punjab and PEPSU in 1956, the total share of Punjab became 7.2 MAF. The
Indus Water Treaty The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, arranged and negotiated by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960 b ...
reached in 1960 allowed India unrestricted use of water from Sutlej, Ravi and Beas. The dispute regarding sharing of river water emerged after Punjab was reorganised in 1966, and the state of Haryana was created. Haryana demanded 4.8 MAF out of Punjab's total 7.2 MAF share of water from the rivers, while Punjab claimed the entire quantity belonged to it. Haryana asked the Union government to intervene as no agreement could be reached. In 1976, when the country was under an
internal emergency The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution beca ...
, an executive order was issued by the Union government which allocated 3.5 MAF of water to both states while
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
received the remaining 0.2 MAF. In order to make full use of the allocated water, a Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal was proposed. The decision was met with opposition in Punjab by Shromani Akali Dal. After coming to power in 1977, the
Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are man ...
demanded that the water sharing between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan be adjudicated by Supreme Court and filed a suit against the order of the Union government. The construction of canal was started in the same year by the Akali Dal government under Chief Minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal. The Haryana government led by
Chaudhary Devi Lal Chaudhary Devi Lal (born Devi Dayal; 25 September 1915 – 6 April 2001) was an Indian statesman who served as 6th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1991 in the governments of V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. Also popularly known as T ...
provided Rs. 10,000,000 to the Punjab government for this purpose. The government later issued a notification to acquire land for the SYL canal. The construction of the canal's portion in Haryana was completed by June 1980. After the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
came to power in Punjab in 1980, an agreement was reached on 31 December 1981 between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, which were all under INC rule, with
Darbara Singh Darbara Singh (10 February 1916 — 10 March 1990) was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1980 to 1983. Freedom struggle and provincial politics Sardar Darbara Singh (1916–1990), born into the prosperous Jatt zamindar family of Sardar D ...
being the Chief Minister of Punjab and Indira Gandhi being the Prime Minister of India. Under the agreement, Punjab's share was increased to 4.22 MAF and that of Rajasthan to 8.6 MAF while the share of Haryana from the revised 17.17 MAF of water remained the same. All states withdrew their suits from the Supreme Court following the signing of agreement. On 8 April 1982, Indira Gandhi formally launched the construction of the canal at Kapoori village of Punjab in 1982. On 23 April, the Punjab government issued a
white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...
hailing the agreement. Per the terms reached under Punjab accord, a tribunal was to be set up to investigate the river water claims of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The Akali Dal came back to power in Punjab on 29 September 1985 and on 5 November 1985, the newly elected
Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 ...
repudiated the 1981 agreement. The Ravi and Beas Waters Tribunal (also known as Eradi Tribunal after its chair V. Balakrishna Eradi) was constituted on 2 April 1986. On 30 January 1987, the tribunal upheld the legality of the agreements of 1955, 1976 and 1981. It also increased shares of both Punjab and Haryana, allocating them 5 MAF and 3.83 MAF respectively. It also noted that while the canal's portion had been completed in Haryana, the portion in Punjab wasn't and urged that it be completed expeditiously. The Akali Dal government in Punjab under
Surjit Singh Barnala Surjit Singh Barnala (21 October 1925 – 14 January 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh , l ...
started the construction of the canal. However, it kept dithering on its completion. The construction was stopped in July 1990 after a Chief Engineer associated with its construction was shot dead by
Khalistani The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...
activist Balwinder Singh Jattana. The canal remained incomplete due to the dispute over the issue. In 1999, Haryana filed a suit in the Supreme Court seeking construction of the canal. In 2002, the Supreme Court directed Punjab to complete the SYL canal within a year. Punjab refused to do so and petitioned for a review of the court order which was rejected. In 2004, the Supreme Court directed the Union government to get the canal completed through a central agency. The Central Public Works Department was appointed on 2 July 2004 to take over the canal work from Punjab government. However, on 12 July 2004, the Punjab Legislative Assembly passed the ''Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004'' which abrogated all its river water agreements with neighbouring states. The
President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
then referred this bill to the Supreme Court in the same year. The Supreme Court began hearings on the bill by the Punjab Assembly on 7 March 2016. On 15 March 2016, the Punjab Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the ''Punjab Satluj Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016'', proposing to return the land that had been taken from owners for building the SYL canal. On 18 March, the Supreme Court ordered the Punjab government to maintain status quo on the land meant for construction of the canal. On 10 November, the court gave its opinion that Punjab government's 2004 bill which terminated river water agreements was illegal. On 15 November, the government passed an executive order, denotifying the land meant for the digging of the canal and returned it to its original owners through notification issued by Punjab's financial commissioner of revenue K.B.S. Sidhu, utilising revenue powers that rests with an
IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...
officer. Punjab's Legislative Assembly also passed a resolution on the next day, demanding royalties for river water supplied to its non-
riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
neighbors Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. All of the denotified land was returned by 20 November. A status quo was however again ordered by the Supreme Court relating to the land on 30 November. On 22 February 2017, the Supreme Court stated that the Government of Punjab will have to abide by its order on construction of SYL canal and it will pass a decree if the governments of Punjab and Haryana failed to come to an agreement. Captain Abhimanyu, the Finance Minister of Haryana, while presenting
Government of Haryana The Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...
's 2017-18 budget in March 2017 announced that ₹100 crore had been allocated for completion of the construction of the canal, the first time any money had been specifically set aside for it in the state government's budget.


Status of the project

The canal is 85% complete with Haryana government completing its part of the canal. It has completed 92 km of the canal on its land. Haryana would benefit enormously by gaining water from Ravi-Beas from Punjab. On 30 November 2016, the Supreme Court appointed the Union Home Secretary, Punjab's Chief Secretary and the
Director General of Police Director general of police (DGP) is a rank in the Indian Police Service, held by the highest ranking police officer in a State or a Union Territory of India, typically heading the state or the UT police force. The DGP is appointed by the cab ...
as receivers for submitting a report on the present status of land and other properties on the canal site by 15 December. The receivers submitted their reports as per schedule, stating in the reports that there was no fresh or deliberate damage to the canal. To augment nearly 100
tmcft Tmcft, (Tmc ft), (TMC), (tmc), is the abbreviation of thousand million cubic feet (1,000,000,000 = 109 = 1 billion), commonly used in India in reference to volume of water in a reservoir or river flow. Conversion 1 tmcft is equivalent to: * ...
water availability in Sutlej basin for the needs of this link canal, Lingdi Nadi (a tributary of
Tso Moriri Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri () or "Mountain Lake", is a lake in the Changthang Plateau (literally: northern plains) of Ladakh in India. The lake and surrounding area are protected as the Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve. The lake is at ...
lake) waters can be diverted to the Sutlej basin by digging a 9 km long gravity canal to connect to the Pare Chu and Ungti Chu rivers. Ungti Chu and Pare Chu rivers are tributaries of Sutlej river with its drainage area located in
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
. Thus water need not be spared by Punjab state for the needs of this canal. Hydropower generation from the projects located on Sutlej River would also increase by the augmented water flows from Tso Moriri lake's catchment area.


Protests

The akali protest over the SYL issue on 12 April 2016 in
Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...
, whilst accusing national
convenor The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of Aam Aadmi Party and Chief Minister of Delhi
Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi: �ɾʋin̪d̪ ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, former bureaucrat, and activist who is the 7th and current Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. Currently, he is the national co ...
and his
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
of "double-speak" and "anti-Punjab stand". On 11 November 2016, all
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
MLAs of the
Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 ...
resigned in protest at the Supreme Court's decision that the state's termination of the link canal was unconstitutional. Aam Aadmi Party began an indefinite protest on the same day at Kapoori village, blaming both the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress for SYL. Apprehending law and order problem over the issue, the Punjab Police deployed the
Rapid Action Force The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force of India to deal with riot and crowd control situations. History RAF was raised on 11 December 1991 with headquarters in New Delhi. It became fully oper ...
in parts of Punjab, sealed the border with Haryana and increased patrolling on the National Highway-1 on 12 November. A Congress rally was organised on 13 November at Khuian Sarwar village. President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee
Amarinder Singh Captain Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942), is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. A former Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab and Member ...
declared that not a single drop a water will go out of Punjab while also announcing that a Congress delegation including MPs and MLAs would meet
President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
on the issue. The delegation met the President on 17 November, urging him to form a panel to look into the SYL issue and direct the Union government to consider ground realities and water availability in the state before taking any action on advice of the Supreme Court. Amarinder resigned from
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
on 23 November in protest against the issue. A delegation of Punjab government's ministers met the President on 28 November, urging him not to accept any advice against the
riparian water rights Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those who possess land along its path. It has its origins in English common law. Riparian water rights exist in many jurisdictions with a common law herit ...
. The Akali Dal held a rally at Moga on 8 December regarding the issue. Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal stated that the controversy had been resolved after giving back the land meant for the canal to the original owners. He also stated that Punjab didn't have a single drop of water to spare. In January 2017, the
Indian National Lok Dal Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is a political party in India, in the state of Haryana. INLD was founded in October 1996 as Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) by Choudhary Devi Lal, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of India in the V.P. Singh's Cab ...
(INLD) announced that it will dig the canal itself on 23 February. In response, Punjab's government heightened security along the Punjab-Haryana border. On 23 February, INLD along with its supporters entered Punjab to start the digging of the canal. More than 70 of its leaders were arrested by the Punjab Police for violating prohibitory orders. Haryana claims that it is riparian state of Sutlej river as the upper reaches of Sirsa Nadi which is a tributary of Sutlej river is draining north western area of Haryana state. Rajasthan claims that it is also riparian state of Sutlej river as its northern area is part of the river basin. Irrigation experts believe that Rajasthan will lose significant chunk of its share as the Feeder canals from Harike Pattan will lose water volume due to SYL.


Other alternatives projects

;Sharda-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal The Haryana government is silent on the proposed Sharda-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal about which a National Perspective Plan (NPP) was formulated by the Union. ministry of water resources development in 1980, considering large scale inter-basin water transfer proposals for transfer of water from surplus regions to deficit regions. This canal will also solve the major flood problems in Uttarakhand. Punjab has no surplus water to give to Haryana and it should instead be given from the Sharda-Yamuna Link canal said AAP leader H S Phoolka.


See also

*
Indian Rivers Inter-link The Indian Rivers Inter-link is a proposed large-scale civil engineering project that aims to effectively manage water resources in India by linking Indian rivers by a network of reservoirs and canals to enhance irrigation and groundwater r ...
*
Kaushalya Dam The Kaushalya Dam (Hindi: कौशल्या बांध) is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Kaushalya river, which is a tributary of Ghaggar-Hakra River ( modern remnant of ancient Sarasvati river), in Pinjore of Haryana state, India. ...
in
Pinjore Pinjore is a town in Panchkula district in the Indian state of Haryana. This residential 'township', located close to Panchkula, Chandigarh, is set over 1,800 feet above the sea level in a valley, overlooking the Sivalik Hills. Pinjore is kno ...
*
Bhakra Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerge ...
*
Hathni Kund Barrage The Hathni Kund is a concrete barrage located on the Yamuna River in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana state, India. It was constructed between October 1996 and June 1999 for the purpose of irrigation. It replaced the Tajewala Barrage downst ...
*
Tajewala Barrage Tajewala Barrage is a now decommissioned but existing old barrage across the Yamuna River, located in Yamuna Nagar District, in the state of Haryana, India. Completed in 1873, it regulated the flow of the Yamuna for irrigation in Uttar Pradesh a ...
* Okhla Barrage - Western Yamuna Canal begins here *
Indira Gandhi Canal The Indira Gandhi Canal (originally, Rajasthan Canal) is the longest canal in India. It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, a few kilometers downriver from the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab state, and ends in irriga ...
*
Irrigation in India Irrigation in India includes a network of major and minor canals from Indian rivers, groundwater well based systems, tanks, and other rainwater harvesting projects for agricultural activities. Of these groundwater system is the largest. In 2013 ...
* Inland waterways of India *
Ganges Canal The Ganges Canal or Ganga Canal is a canal system that irrigates the Doab region between the Ganges River and the Yamuna River in India. The canal is primarily an irrigation canal, although parts of it were also used for navigation, primaril ...
*
Ganges Canal (Rajasthan) The Ganga Canal of Rajasthan (also called Gang Canal) is an irrigation system of canals laid down by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner in his princely state in the present district of Sri Ganganagar in the early twentieth century. It is fed from ...
* Upper Ganges Canal Expressway


References


External links


Sutlej - Yamuna link

What is SYL Canal Dispute?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal Canals in India Interbasin transfer Inter-state disputes in India Buildings and structures in Haryana Canals in Punjab, India Irrigation in Haryana