Punjab farmers show black flags to Central team visiting SYL

The Central team visiting ‘encroached’ areas of the controversial Sutlej Yamuna (SYL) canal in Rupnagar district of Punjab was on Tuesday shown black flags by farmers.

The team, headed by Dalip Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, visited Inderpura village near here, where farmers had leveled parts of SYL Canal, officials said. Kahan Singh Pannu, Punjab, Irrigation secretary, also accompanied the team.

Farmers at many places in Rupnagar and Patiala districts filled the canal with earth, after the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a Bill to de-notify the land acquired for SYL Canal, sources said. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had announced that land would be returned to farmers free of cost. 

The team led by Joint Secretary Home has filmed the SYL Canal stretch leveled by farmers and under encroachment, officials said. 

The Supreme Court had granted status quo on the SYL Canal after the Haryana Government approached it against the Punjab Government decision to denotify the land.