SYL canal protest: Police use water cannon against Punjab Congress workers

As Congress members marched towards the Raj Bhawan to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, they were stopped at the barricades

Police on Monday used water cannons to disperse Congress workers who were marching towards Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal issue. Separately, members of the Kirti Kisan Union (KKU) staged demonstrations in parts of Punjab, opposing any fresh survey surrounding the SYL canal construction.

The Congress members led by the party’s State unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, said they wanted to meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit and give him a representation over the SYL issue. As Congress members marched towards the Raj Bhawan to protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, they were stopped at the barricades by the police armed with water cannons. The police said that the water cannons were used, and several protesters were detained after the demonstrators attempted to forcefully bring down the barricades.

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Mr. Bajwa alleged that the Punjab government is working hand in glove with the Centre against the interests of Punjab. “The survey for the SYL canal is not possible. Acquisition of the land has been de-notified in 2016. The farmers have started ploughing the land now. With the construction of the SYL canal, they are trying to humiliate Punjab,” he said.

KKU President Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, said that farmers will not let the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal in Punjab, and if needed the KKU will stage a protest on the lines of the year-long farmers’ agitation against the now repealed farm-laws on the border of the national capital.

Mr. Singh criticised the Central and State governments for compromising Punjab’s interests. “The Central government has always pushed Punjab by neglecting the riparian principle on the issue of river waters. The successive governments in Punjab have also done electoral politics on this issue,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court if any survey is undertaken by the central team, it would be strongly opposed in Punjab.

Since the Supreme Court asked the Union government to conduct a survey in Punjab surrounding the land that was assigned for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal - the focal point of a water-sharing dispute between Haryana and Punjab, farmers and political parties are up in arms against the survey.