NEW DELHI, May 6: The Supreme Court on Tuesday called on the governments of Punjab and Haryana to extend full cooperation to the Centre in finding an amicable resolution to the long-standing Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih issued the direction after being informed by the Centre that it has initiated meaningful steps toward mediation between the two states.
“We direct both the states to cooperate with the Union of India in arriving at an amicable solution,” the bench stated during the hearing.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, acknowledged the efforts made so far, noting the limitations of mediation without active commitment from both parties.
“We have made efforts for mediation, but the states have to walk the talk,” she told the court.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for August 13, making it clear that it expects tangible progress before then. “We will take up the matter again if it remains unresolved by that date,” the bench added.
The SYL canal was originally designed to enable equitable distribution of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers. The 214-kilometre-long project envisioned 122 km of the canal running through Punjab and the remaining 92 km in Haryana.
While Haryana has completed its portion of the canal, Punjab, which began construction in 1982, later abandoned the work.
The inter-state dispute has persisted for decades. In a landmark ruling on January 15, 2002, the Supreme Court sided with Haryana in a legal suit filed in 1996, directing the Punjab government to complete the construction of its share of the canal.
Despite that ruling, successive efforts to resolve the impasse have failed, keeping the issue alive in political and legal circles.
