The Supreme Court on Tuesday drew an assurance from the State of Punjab that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will meet his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar “within this month” to discuss the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal which has been languishing for two decades.
The court said the canal is meant to address water shortage. “Water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it, whether it be individuals, States or countries… There is a shortage. But if you look at it only from the point of view of the State, then somebody will look at it from the point of view of the city… Then what will happen? I know there are sensitive issues in the State (Punjab), but some calls have to be taken. In the larger interest of the country, you have to sit down and work it out. It cannot be left as a festering wound. Water is a natural wealth to be shared. How it has to be shared is a mechanism to be worked out. We expect parties to work out a way to share the national wealth,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, heading a three-judge Bench, addressed Punjab and Haryana.
