Chandigarh: Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said Haryana will not leave even a single drop of water from its rightful share.
He said this while reacting to the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) issue between Punjab and Haryana, adding the Supreme Court has already given the final verdict in favour of the latter.
“The Haryana government should file a contempt petition in case for disobeying the orders of the Supreme Court. Haryana will not leave even a single drop of water from its rightful share,” Hooda told the media here.
His reaction came after the apex court asked the Central government to hold meetings between Punjab and Haryana to resolve the dispute related to the SYL canal.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath was hearing an original suit filed by Haryana against Punjab in 1996.
Seeking a report on the progress made on the issue, the bench posted the matter for January 15, 2023.
Responding to the judges’ observation, Hooda said there is no point in the meeting now as the Supreme Court has already given its final verdict on giving water to Haryana.
“The Central government and the Punjab government have to comply and the Haryana government should make efforts for to ensure that it happens. We have met everyone from the Chief Minister to the former President on the issue. Despite the decision of the Supreme Court in favour of Haryana and an all-party meeting to asking the Chief Minister to seek time from the Prime Minister, the government never took concrete steps towards getting water to the state.
“On the SYL issue, I had clearly stated in the legislative assembly that the Haryana government should file a case of disobeying the Supreme Court’s decision.”
Hooda added the present BJP government has always had a casual attitude towards the interests of Haryana. “If the BJP was really serious about getting water for Haryana, the state would have got SYL water by now. The present government, despite being in power for eight years, never made any serious effort to get SYL water to Haryana.”
The Leader of Opposition said instead of fulfilling its responsibility regarding the SYL, the BJP is only doing political drama.
“The Hansi-Butana canal was built during the Congress government, but the BJP government did not make any effort to bring water to it. On the contrary, the Dadupur Nalvi canal built by our government has been covered,” he added.
–IANS
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