SYL issue: INLD, BSP leaders court arrest

A number of INLD and BSP leaders and their supporters today courted arrest as part of their ongoing 'Jail Bharo' agitation to demand completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

Addressing party workers before courting arrest, the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana, Abhay Singh Chautala, accused the BJP government of delaying the implementation of the Supreme Court directive on the SYL canal by raising extraneous issues.

The INLD and the BSP had launched the agitation to pressure the Centre and the Haryana government to complete the construction of the SYL canal in accordance with the Supreme Court directions and that of the abandoned Dadupur Nalvi canal, Chautala said.

In the absence of these projects, Haryana would face an unprecedented water crisis, he claimed.

Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala, too, lashed out at the BJP government for allegedly depriving the state of water.

"The BJP government at the Centre is more concerned about Rajasthan, to which additional 400 cusecs of water was being given from Haryana's share," Dushyant claimed.

"As a result, 40 villages of Nalwa and Adampur are facing drought-like conditions," he added.

Others who courted arrest included Haryana INLD president Ashok Arora, MP Dushyant Chautala, state BSP chief Prakash Bharati, MP Charanjit Singh Rori, among others. However, they were released later.