Get your own canal, Haryana tells Delhi amid row over water

Upset over his stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the Haryana government has asked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to get a separate canal constructed to carry Delhi’s share of river water to the city.

In a letter to Kejriwal on Thursday, irrigation minister Om Prakash Dhankar expressed the inability of his state to carry Delhi’s share of river water through its canal system in view of the position taken by him against the interests of Haryana’s people. “You should get your own separate canal constructed from Nangal Dam and Tajewala barrage to carry water of Delhi so that the city’s share of river water can reach it due to your efforts,” Dhankar wrote.

Taking on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader for opposing the construction of the SYL canal, Dhankar reminded him that Haryana was allocated 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) and Delhi 0.2 MAF of Ravi Beas water from Nangal Dam. “Haryana carries Delhi’s share of water through the Bhakra Main Line (BML) canal and delivers it to the national capital through Narwana branch and the Western Yumuna Canal (WYC) system. We are unable to take our 498 cusecs of water because of this load taken for Delhi,” he added.

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The irrigation minister said 330 cusecs of additional water from the Yamuna was also delivered to Delhi through the WYC system. “We have Ravi Beas water available for Haryana and Delhi at Nangal Dam, but no resources to carry it,” he wrote, accusing the AAP leader of opposing the only available option for carrying this water due to his political interests in Punjab.

Dhankar said that “by doing this (opposing construction of SYL canal) despite being Delhi Chief Minister, you have stood against the interests of people of Delhi.”

“Seeing your stand, Haryana will not be able to deliver your share of water to Delhi since you have stood against the interests of farmers and people of Haryana,” the minister told Kejriwal.

Dhankar wrote that Kejriwal had worked against the interests of the people of Delhi in doing so. Kejriwal belongs to Haryana while his party has emerged as a strong contender in poll-bound Punjab.

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