HIGHLIGHTS
- Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal ssue has been simmering with renewed rigour since July 2020
- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and some part of Uttar Pradesh share the same water infrastructure
- In July 2020, SC directed CMs of Punjab, Haryana to negotiate and settle the issue
Though it is a decades old problem, the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) issue has been simmering with renewed rigour since July 2020 when the Supreme Court asked Punjab and Haryana to settle the matter.
Of the multiple states in northwest India, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and some part of Uttar Pradesh share the same water infrastructure and are regulated by two bodies and agreements: The Bhakra Beas Management Board and the 1994 Upper Yamuna River Board’s agreement/MoU between upper riparians of Yamuna, namely Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In the SYL, it is the two states of Punjab and Haryana that have kept the dispute burning for over four decades now. Delhi has no direct stake in the dispute, but a major share of Delhi’s water comes through Haryana and all it is worried about is that it should continue to get uninterrupted water supply of its share.
