 "Amarinder Singh")
Politics over the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal hotted up in poll-bound Punjab soon after the Supreme Court asked the state to share water with neighbouring Haryana.
Upping the ante, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh accused the Akali government of presenting a weak case in the apex court and resigned from his Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in protest, even as deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal declared that "not a drop of water" would be shared with other states.
All the Congress lawmakers in Punjab also tendered their resignations to the assembly speaker and would meet him on Friday over the issue. "The Akalis let down the people of Punjab on this critical issue, selling off their interests to Haryana," said Amarinder.
Punjab will have assembly polls early next year which explains the strong positions that parties are taking over an emotive issue like water sharing.
While the Congress and the Akali's in Punjab both opposed the directive, the BJP and the Congress in Haryana welcomed the top court's order.
"I welcome the Supreme Court verdict. It is natural justice," Haryana chief minister M L khattar said in Chandigarh. "The Supreme Court has given its decision on this vital issue after 12 years and it is a result of the persistent efforts made by the present state government," he claimed.
Haryana Congress leaders welcomed the apex court order saying justice had been done. "A historic & path breaking verdict by the Supreme Court upholds Haryana's claim on SYL. Victory for people, justice for Haryana.Satyamev Jayate!," Congress communication department chief Randeep Surjewala, who is also a Haryana lawmaker, tweeted.
The 214 km long canal linking Sutlej and Yamuna rivers was planned in 1966 after Haryana was carved out of Punjab. But Punjab has been regularly opposing the project saying its agriculture will suffer and has not constructed its part of the canal though Haryana has done its bit.
"There will be disastrous consequences. Around 10 lakh acres of land will go completely dry, the livelihood of millions will be hit," Amarinder said after the Supreme Court order.
The dispute involves sharing of the waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers mainly between Punjab and Haryana and also includes Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2004, Amarinder who was then chief minister, had brought the Punjab Termination Agreement Act scrapping all water-sharing agreements with neighbouring states.
Then President A P J Abdul Kalam had referred the law to the Supreme Court to establish if the Punjab law was legally valid. The apex court had ruled that construction of the canal should continue "without any hindrance".
Defying the top court's orders, the Punjab assembly passed a resolution earlier this year to return the land it had acquired for the construction of the SYL canal, forcing BJP ruled Haryana to approach the apex court.
A five-judge constitution bench on Friday said that Punjab cannot unilaterally wriggle out of an agreement involving other states.
Khattar said Haryana would get its legitimate share of surplus water of 3.5 million acre feet from the Ravi-Beas River.
The Haryana Assembly had recently unanimously passed a resolution condemning Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's statement that Punjab and its residents will not accept any verdict against the state's interest on river waters.
