Attorney General to be consulted on SYL, says Rajnath

Union Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured a delegation of political leaders from Haryana that further action on the construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal will be taken after seeking legal counsel from the Attorney General.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who led the all-party delegation to meet the Union Minister in New Delhi, said that Haryana's case on the SYL has been submitted to the Central Government.

"The delegation presented the case of the state regarding implementation of orders of the Supreme Court on construction of the SYL Canal. The delegation also submitted a charter for getting the SYL Canal constructed by the central government at the earliest," he said.

Khattar noted that the Supreme Court had delivered its judgment in favour of Haryana and the responsibility for getting the SYL Canal constructed rested with the Central Government.

"Water supplied through the SYL Canal was the rightful share of the state of Haryana. It is a joint agreement. It is not an issue between governments. Presently, the issue concerns implementation of the joint agreement.

"The case of Haryana has been presented before the Central Government by the all-party delegation in a proper manner, and I hope the canal would be constructed at the earliest and the farmers would get their rightful share of water," he added.

Besides Khattar, the delegation included state ministers, state Bharatiya Janata Party President Subhash Barala, Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ashok Tanwar, and Kiran Chaudhary and Indian National Lok Dal state President Ashok Arora.

Punjab has refused to allow construction of the SYL canal, saying that it has no water to spare for Haryana.

--IANS

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