The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Punjab and Haryana governments to cooperate with the Center in resolving the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute.
The Center told the bench of Justice BR Gawai and Justice Augustine George Christ that it had already taken effective steps to solve the issue in a cordial manner.
The bench said, “We instruct both states to cooperate with the Union of India in reaching a cordial solution.”
The bench said that if the matter is not resolved by August 13, it will hear it.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Center, told the bench, “We have made efforts for mediation, but the states will have to implement their point.”
The SYL canal was conceived for effective allocation of water from Ravi and Beas rivers. The project was envisaged to build a 214 km long canal, out of which 122 km canal was to be built in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana.
Haryana has completed this project in its area, but Punjab started construction work in 1982 but later put it on hold. The dispute between the two states has been going on for decades.
The Supreme Court had ruled in its favor in a suit filed in 1996 by Haryana on 15 January 2002 and directed the Punjab government to build its share of the SYL canal.
