The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to survey the portion of land in Punjab which was allocated for construction of part of the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in the state and make an estimate about the extent of construction carried out there.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also asked the central government to actively pursue the mediation process to resolve the festering dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the construction of the canal.
The SYL canal was conceptualised for effective allocation of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers. The project envisaged a 214-km canal, of which 122 km was to be constructed in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana. Haryana has completed the project in its territory but Punjab, which launched the construction work in 1982, later shelved it.
“We would like the Union of India to survey the portion of the land of Punjab allocated for the project to ensure that the land is protected,” said the bench, also comprising Justices C T Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia.
“In the meantime, the mediation process should be actively pursued by the Central government,” it said.
The dispute between the two states has been lingering on for decades. The top court had on January 15, 2002 ruled in favour of Haryana in a suit filed by it in 1996 and directed the Punjab government to construct its portion of the SYL canal.