What is Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (SARYU)?
• It is a proposed 214-kilometer (133 mi) long heavy freight canal in India to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.
• The canal starts near Palla village near Delhi, and was to transfer Haryana’s share of 3,500,000 acre-feet (4.3 km3) from the Indus Basin
• When completed, the SYL will allow shipping from India’s east coast to the west coast and the Arabian sea, drastically shortening shipping distances and creating important commercial links for north-central India’s large population.
| Q | A |
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| Which bill was passed recently by Punjab assembly? | On Monday, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill 2016, seeking to return land acquired for the canal’s construction to the original owners free of cost, and thereby completely destroy the work (still incomplete after more than three decades) to channel to Haryana its duly allotted share of the waters of the Ravi and the Beas. |
| Why was it criticized? | Even though the Governor’s assent has not come for the Bill, work on levelling the land, scooping earth and flora along the canal began at fever pitch, causing ecological damage and wiring up the original owners into frenzied activity. |
| Background of dispute? | The origins of the crisis go back to 2004, when the State passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements legislation. With this, it reneged on its upper-riparian responsibility to share water with Haryana through the SYL Canal.
The matter went to the Supreme Court, and hearing finally started this month. |
| Supreme Court’s Order on the bill? | On Thursday, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ordered status quo on land marked for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal. |
| Subsequent Action By Punjab Assembly? | On Friday the Assembly unanimously resolved that it cannot be allowed to be built. It is not clear whether this is an emotive cover for the Punjab government to wind down the efforts to change the facts on the ground by even levelling the canal.
But the events of the past week frame political adventurism of an order that this country has not witnessed in a long time. Supported by a political consensus that brings the Opposition Congress and even the Aam Aadmi Party on board the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government’s unilateral repudiation of inter-State agreements, they put the onus on the Centre to reiterate the redlines that cannot be crossed in a federal set-up. |
WORD FROM TEAM GS-SCORE –
| Context |
Controversy around the Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill 2016 |
|---|---|
| Relevant for | Polity & governance of GS:2; water of GS:3 |
| For further detail | refer article titled “undermining the SYL canal” from TheHindu dated march 19, 2016 |