The revival of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) feud between Punjab and Haryana, the former being poll-bound and eyeing an electoral harvest, has invigorated politics in both states with new energy.
The issue is back to the fore after 12 years, when the Punjab Assembly, under then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, had passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, to prevent the completion of the SYL canal in Punjab. The controversy erupted again a few days ago, with the hearing on the Presidential reference in Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Act.
Ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is taking a more radical stand on the Ravi-Beas water-sharing issue than neighbouring Haryana. The party is trying to recover ground lost to 10 years of incumbency. The Congress and the SAD are both staking their claim to be pro-farmer. Without a legacy in Punjab politics the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has jumped on the bandwagon to remain in the electoral race.
While the Congress was armed with the SYL issue to corner the government during the Budget session that began on March 8, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took the wind out of the sails of the Congress by bringing a resolution on the de-notification of 5,400 acres acquired for the SYL and promised to return it to the farmers free of cost. The Bill passed by the Assembly is awaiting the governor's assent. Punjab Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, a Bharatiya Janata Party nominee who also happens to be the governor of Haryana, may be caught in a cleft stick, as Haryana is opposing the Bill aggressively.
The SYL canal was a dormant political issue till it was resurrected recently because of the resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly. With the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, disputes over various issues, including river water, erupted between Punjab and Haryana. On March 24, 1976, the central government issued a notification allowing 3.5 million acre-feet from river waters to each of the two states. Punjab challenged the notification in the Supreme Court that was later withdrawn at the behest of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In 1985, an attempt was again made to settle the issue with the signing of the Rajiv-Longowal accord.
A major part of the canal - about 920 km - was completed in Punjab's territory in the 1990s for Rs 750 crore. Only a small portion awaited completion when construction was suspended in the wake of two incidents that killed 30 labourers and two engineers, as Punjab was in the grip of militancy.
The four-decade-old dispute over the canal, which is in ruins, has now become an opportunity to capture political glory. The Supreme Court in its hearing on March 17 directed all parties to maintain status quo on the canal. It will hear the matter on March 31.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who hails from Haryana, has expressed solidarity with Punjab, saying it does not have a single drop of extra water to share with the other states.
Punjab's rural vote base constitutes a major vote bank for all parties. Agriculture is facing a crisis in the state. The dwindling water table due to over-exploitation of underground water has ramped up the cost of cultivation many times over. Efforts to diversify the area under paddy have not been successful, as paddy guarantees assured returns and is more remunerative than other kharif crops. But paddy is also a water guzzler and almost totally dependent on irrigation. Growing indebtedness in rural Punjab - an estimated Rs 52,000 crore in 2015 - and farmer suicides due to debt make the farmers' constituency valuable but politically fickle.
The SAD-BJP government doled out sops to farmers in the 2016-17 State Budget, offering interest-free loans of Rs 50,000 per crop to small farmers, health insurance etc. But agriculture continues to yield diminishing returns. Congress is now using the SYL canal issue to illustrate the SAD-BJP government's incompetence and has urged angry farmers to uproot trees and fill the decrepit canal structures. Thousands of trees near Patiala have been uprooted with the help of machines for this purpose - as a political statement.
Haryana has left no stone unturned to stop Punjab from passing the Bill on de-notification of land.
The Supreme Court may deliver its verdict in due course after examining the constitutional validity of the SYL. Whether the verdict is in favour of Punjab or against it, the issue will be used for politics while farmers continue to struggle to eke out a living.
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