Haryana not to start dialogue with Pb over SYL issue: Dhankar

Haryana Agriculture minister O P Dhankar today said the state government will not initiate a fresh dialogue with the Punjab government to come to an agreement on the state's share of river waters.
The Supreme Court had on September 7 granted six weeks' time to the Centre to explore the possibility of an amicable solution to the SYL canal row between Punjab and Haryana.
"There will be no digression from our chosen path of securing implementation of the Supreme Court orders regarding construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab, and bringing to Haryana its rightful share of river waters," Dhankar was quoted as saying in a release.

He also asserted that the state government was committed to getting the SYL canal constructed.
Dhankar claimed that it was due to the efforts of the present state government that after 11 years, hearing on the presidential reference was started by the Supreme Court on February 29 and concluded on May 12 last year.
On the Presidential Reference, the apex court gave judgement in favour of Haryana on November 10 last year after which Punjab's Termination of Agreements Act-2004 was rendered invalid, the minister said.

Punjab had contended that the apex court order was not binding as it was given under its advisory jurisdiction and the Punjab law still stands.

For effective allocation of water, the SYL canal link was conceptualised and both the states were required to construct their portions within their territories.
Haryana constructed the portion of SYL canal in its territory. However, Punjab, after the initial phase, stopped the work, leading to spate of litigations.