SYL canal will raise farm output by Rs 8,000 crore: Sampat Singh

A canal runs through it and the village folk of Haryana seem to lap it up. The Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal has been an aqueduct of sorts for nearly three decades now with Punjab and Haryana slugging it out for control of the water system.

However, the recent decision on the SYL canal by the Supreme Court has given farmers of Haryana a shot in the arm.

Once in operation, the canal would irrigate an additional 800,000 acres of land, said Sampat Singh, Haryana finance minister. In an interview to Business Standard, he said this would generate an additional profit of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore in terms of increased agricultural production.

Many farmers, he pointed out, who were drawing water for a week or 10 days a month, would now get water for longer duration. Singh said the latest technology enabled the work to be complete in 3-4 months.

He said the apex court had given directions to the central government to appoint an agency for completion of work in Punjab. Likewise, the Punjab government had been directed to hand over the canal to the central agency, he added.

The Supreme Court has also directed the government to provide central assistance to the executive agency. It may be recalled that Chief Engineer ML Sekri and his associates who were involved in the construction of canal, were shot dead in 1990 in Chandigarh. Result "" the canal work came to a standstill.

The apex court has also directed the government to appoint a high-power committee to monitor the work done by the central agency.

Singh elaborated that only about 5-7 per cent of the 122 km stretch in Punjab was incomplete. In contrast, the 91-kilometre stretch in Haryana had already been completed.

On completion, the SYL canal will whet the happiness of the people of Haryana, where the water table has already receded to alarming levels due to the excessive use of tubewells for irrigation.

For Singh, June 4, 2004, has become a "historic day for Haryana, like its Foundation Day (November 1, 1966) as water is life for this predominantly agricultural state."