The Hindu : National : SC directs Centre to complete SYL canal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

National

National

SC directs Centre to complete SYL canal

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 4. The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to complete the construction of the Punjab stretch of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal at the earliest.

A Bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice P. Venkatarama Reddi, gave this direction while allowing an application filed by the Haryana Government seeking a direction to the Centre to construct the unfinished SYL Canal.

The Bench directed the Centre to appoint an agency within four weeks for carrying out the work. The Centre has also been directed to appoint a special committee for supervising the progress. The special committee would include representatives from Punjab and Haryana.

The Bench directed the Punjab Government to hand over to the Central agency, within four weeks, the land through which the SYL canal has to be constructed. The Government has also been asked to provide security to the staff of the Central agency and the construction workers. The Bench said a fresh map would be prepared and a survey of the area conducted to ensure that the greenery was not affected.

In its application, the Haryana Government had said the apex court, while allowing its suit on January 15, 2002 had directed the Punjab Government to complete the SYL canal within a year, failing which the Centre would undertake the task. It contended that since the Punjab Government had failed to comply with the direction, the Centre should step in.

The apex court while allowing this application, dismissed with costs a suit filed by the Punjab Government after the expiry of the deadline, expressing its inability tofinish the construction.

The Rs. 850-crore and 306-km long SYL canal had been completed except for a small portion in Punjab, which it had been refusing to do for over a decade.

Punjab had sought review of the January 15, 2002 order saying it had no surplus water to give to Haryana and any additional release of water to Haryana would affect nine lakh acres in the districts of Ferozepur, Muktsar, Moga and Faridkot.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National