Haryana seeks Rs 35,000 crore from Punjab to compensate farmers

CHANDIGARH: At a time when Punjab assembly is asking for cost of water from Haryana and other states, Haryana government has asked Punjab to compensate losses of farmers estimated to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore in past 35 years in the absence of completion of Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal's construction. State agriculture and farmers' welfare minister Om Prakash Dhankar said on Wednesday that the question of payment for water as sought by Punjab does not arise.
Dhankar said that Punjab should compensate farmers of Haryana for losses to the tune of thousands of crores incurred by them every year in the absence of adequate irrigation water.The minister said that Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966 as a result of division between two brothers. "It's like the story of two brothers. One of them has a well in his house and he denies to give water to his younger brother from the well," Dhankar told TOI.
Haryana has completed construction of SYL canal in its territory in 1980. "If Punjab would also have constructed the canal 35 years ago, farmers of Haryana would have produced eight lakh food grains annually, leading to annual income of Rs 1,000 crore to farmers. Apart from this, the state has also made an expenditure of Rs 20 crore to fight legal battle over the canal issue. Dhankar has even written a formal letter to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on March 17 in this connection. Terming introduction of a bill in Punjab assembly to seek payment from Haryana for supply of water from 1966 onwards as "anti-national and a political drama", Dhankar said that the bill has been introduced despite the recent decision of the Supreme Court favouring Haryana.
He said that Punjab government should respect the Constitution and the decision of the Supreme Court. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also took strong exception to the resolution passed by Punjab assembly to charge cost of water supplied to non-riparian states describing it as unconstitutional. Khattar said that it was in 2006 that Punjab Vidhan Sabha had acted in a similar manner, but Supreme Court had rejected that.
Khattar said that whatever the resolutions are passed by Punjab on the issue of SYL Canal, Union government and President would be urged to take action on issues concerning Haryana. He said that such resolutions would not affect Haryana.
The chief minister said that the decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of SYL canal favouring Haryana has shown a ray of hope to farmers of the state. "Many parts of Haryana would get water. There are areas in the state where there is scarcity of water during summer and now those areas would not face such problem," Khattar added.