SYL issue: Pb govt seeks Centre's intervention

Punjab on Thursday urged the Narendra Modi government to intervene in the SYL matter to save the state from an "ecological disaster", after it apprised the Centre of the "critical water situation" it was grappled with and its inability to share waters with neighbouring states.

Punjab also pointed out that it does not have surplus water to share with any other state and urged the central government to come up with a "realistic" solution to the problem, keeping it's water scarcity in view. These views were expressed by an official delegation comprising chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh and Principal Secretary (Irrigation) KBS Sidhu, who met up with Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources Amarjit Singh, that conveyed its stand on the Satlej-Yamuna Link canal issue.

Punjab and Haryana are locked in a dispute over the sharing of Ravi-Beas waters for decades. While Haryana wants its share, as was decided when the state was carved out of Punjab along with Himachal Pradesh 50 years ago, successive Punjab governments have refused to share water.