By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Friday decided to hear Oct 5 if Haryana would be allowed to perforate the Bhakra Canal on the basis of its promise that it would not draw water through the perforation unless permitted subsequently. The state is building an irrigation channel.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G Balarishnan fixed Oct 5 to examine the possibility of allowing Haryana to puncture the Bhakra canal in Kaithal district, after senior counsel and former law minister Shanti Bhushan, appearing for the state, pleaded to the bench to lift the ban on puncturing the canal.
Bhushan said that almost 80 percent work on the 20-km-long channel was complete at a cost of over Rs.3 billion. The channel is called Hansi Branch Butana Branch of the Multipurpose Link Channel.
But on Aug 17, the apex court restrained Haryana from puncturing the main canal. This has brought the construction work to a halt near Ajimgarh village in Kaithal district, where the state government proposed perforating the canal to feed its irrigation channel.
Bhushan pleaded that the state be allowed to at least puncture the main Bhakra canal, without permission to open the gate at perforation site to draw water from it.
He said that the Bhakra Beas Management Board is to shortly close the canal for repair, and the Haryana government may be allowed to puncture it around the same time.
But instead of accepting Bhushan’s plea, the bench decided hold an elaborate hearing on the issue Oct 5.
The Rajasthan government joined the issue at the apex court Friday, objecting to the Haryana government plan.
Appearing for Rajasthan, senior Counsel K.K. Venugopal contended that the state’s share of 0.9 cusec-feet of water from the Bhakra canal had already shrunk to 0.7 cusec feet during the peak agricultural season.
He said that if Haryana was allowed to draw water from the canal after perforating it, Rajasthan’s water share would dwindle further.
Haryana is building the 20-km long water channel, running from west to east, adjoining the territory of Punjab. The channel is to have a 10.2-feet-high embankment for its first 11 km, which would taper to a height of seven feet along its subsequent nine km run.
The Punjab government has moved the apex court to challenge Haryana’s project, contending that the construction of the embankment for the water channel would obstruct the free flow of surface water from north to south and would result in flooding the territory of Punjab.
Punjab has contended that the water deluge in turn would result in submergence of 20,756 acres in 32 villages and require displacement of over 100,000 people in the state.
Punjab has termed the construction of the water channel by Haryana as “violation of its territorial rights” and “an extra-territorial nuisance”.
Punjab has contended that the farming land that Haryana proposed to irrigate by the channel was not part of the areas identified for irrigation in the Bhakra Nangal agreement of 1959.