Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today welcomed the Centre's decision to hold a meeting on April 20 with Punjab and Haryana on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal issue.
The Chief Minister said he has been seeking the Centre's intervention in the matter to find an amicable settlement to the issue in the interest of Punjab, which would be deprived of much-needed water if the SYL canal is constructed, an official release said here.
Amarinder's statement comes after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told Supreme Court that a meeting of the two states has been called by the Centre on the issue on April 20.
The Attorney General mentioned the matter before the bench comprising Justice P C Ghose and Justice R F Nariman and sought deferring of the scheduled hearing on April 12.
The state government is committed to protecting Punjab's water at any cost, said Amarinder, who had quit his Lok Sabha membership in November last year after the Supreme Court's verdict on the SYL issue was in favour of Haryana.
The Congress's manifesto had also stated that "a Congress government will not allow construction of any new canals, including the SYL, that take Punjab's river waters outside its territorial jurisdiction."
The question of allowing river water to go outside the state does not arise as Punjab does not have the surplus water to share with others, the Chief Minister said.
He underlined the need for a fresh assessment of the quantum of river water actually available with Punjab before taking a final decision in the SYL matter.
Allowing the SYL to be constructed before ascertaining the availability of water is like "putting the cart before the horse", Amarinder said.
The Chief Minister on several occasions has stated that Punjab has been subjected to injustice in the matter of water allocation.
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