Malwa Canal Proposed; Haryana Calls Panjab ‘Elder Brother,’ Seeks Water

While paying tributes to Maharaja Ranjit Singh on his 185th death anniversary at Badrukhan village in Sangrur on 29 Jun, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said the state govt. would construct the Malwa canal in south Panjab. ‘This will be the first canal of the state to be constructed after Independence,’ said the CM. He said this canal would irrigate the fields in Gidderbaha, Lambi, and other areas of Malwa. This is part of the AAP government’s initiative to revive canal irrigation in Panjab. In Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Malerkotla districts, canal water irrigation has resumed after 40 years through underground pipes replacing hundreds of tube wells. Senior leader Jagmeet Singh Brar said rising above differences between political parties, there is an urgent need for the Malwa canal in southern Panjab. On 29 Jun, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini visited Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and Radha Soami Satsang in Beas. Talking to reporters, Saini urged Panjab to share water from the Ravi and Beas through the Sutlej Yamuna link (SYL) canal with Haryana and said that it is the duty of the ‘elder brother’ (Panjab) not to disappoint the ‘younger brother’ (Haryana). Saini underlined the familial bond between Panjab and Haryana, stating that Panjab-Haryana is one family and one household. This is a new and emotional appeal in the four-decade-long fractious river waters saga between the two states; Haryana and parts of Himachal Pradesh were truncated out of partitioned Indian Panjab in 1966. It must be noted that at the same time, Delhi is asking Haryana to release water for its drinking water needs. Still, Haryana is reluctant to do so citing lack of availability. It is the same reason Panjab gives when asked to share SYL waters with Haryana.