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Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008
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Supreme Court to hear Punjab plea

J. Venkatesan

“Restrain Haryana from building canal”

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on April 29 a suit filed by the State of Punjab to restrain Haryana from proceeding with construction of the Bansi Branch-Butana Branch Multipurpose Link Channel for diverting water to irrigate its areas lying in the Yamuna Basin.

A three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice J. M. Panchal fixed the date of hearing after hearing Attorney-General Milon Banerjee, senior counsel Ashok Desai for Haryana, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan for Punjab, and senior counsel K. K. Venugopal for Rajasthan. The Court, which had restrained Haryana from puncturing the Bhakra Main Line Canal near Ajimgarh village in Kaithal district, had sought the opinion of the Central Water Commission on various aspects of the project.

When the matter was taken up on Tuesday, Mr. Banerjee submitted that the Commission’s opinion was now available. He said the main concerns pertained to flooding, reduced supply of water to other States downstream and more water to Haryana and possible waterlogging. He said the Commission had addressed all the concerns and that the project could be undertaken by Haryana.

In its report, the Commission said “there will be safe disposal of flood water into Ghaggar river and Patiala Nadi as siphons of adequate capacity have been planned. The Commission is further of the view that there may not be serious drainage congestion upstream of the proposed channel….”

As for supply of waters downstream, it said the Bhakra Beas Management Board as a neutral agency might first ensure deliveries to Punjab and Rajasthan on priority. “Haryana would utilise their share after meeting the requirements of Punjab and Rajasthan on a pro rata basis as per actual supplies received,” it added.

Waterlogging

“As regards waterlogging, the Central Water Commission feels that canals constructed partly in cutting and partly in filling are quite common. Haryana has proposed brick lining to reduce seepage losses from the proposed channel. The CWC is therefore of the view that there may not be significant waterlogging problems due to the construction of the channel,” it said.

Punjab in its suit pointed out that Haryana had not obtained the mandatory clearance from the Government for the construction of the project and it suffered from technical infirmities. Any submergence of the territory within Punjab without its consent was illegal.

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