The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the main opposition party in Haryana, today accused the Centre of "deliberately delaying" the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal.
INLD General Secretary and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly Abhay Singh Chautala said that had the Centre's intentions were clean, it would have implemented the Supreme Court's earlier order (on construction of the canal).
"There is no legal hindrance before the central government in constructing the SYL canal. They (centre) are deliberately delaying this matter," he alleged while speaking to reporters here.
Today also, he said, that the apex court stressed that orders passed by it on the SYL canal issue should be respected and executed.
The INLD has been demanding immediate construction of SYL canal to give Haryana its rightful share in river water.
The Supreme Court today said the orders passed by it on the SYL canal issue have to be "respected and executed" and the governments of Punjab and Haryana have a duty to obey them.
The court also directed the two states to ensure that no agitation take place on the issue. It has fixed the matter for hearing on September 7.
Haryana had yesterday witnessed protests over the SYL issue with main opposition INLD blocking roads and holding demonstrations.
The INLD activists blocked the entry of vehicles coming from Punjab at several places including Delhi-Ambala national highway as part of their day-long protest on the issue, causing inconvenience to commuters.
Alleging that the Centre and the Punjab government were not ready to accept the Supreme Court verdict, Chautala had said, "It is the responsibility of the Centre to get the SC's verdict implemented. We will get this order implemented by putting pressure on the government to get our share in river water".
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today asserted that the contentious SYL canal issue could be resolved only through negotiations and urged the Centre to facilitate dialogue with Haryana for the early resolution of the matter.
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