Chandigarh, June 7
A special meeting of the Punjab Council of Ministers here today unanimously decided that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should meet the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to solicit his intervention for “fair” adjudication on all matters related to the Ravi-Beas river waters, their availability, divisibility and construction of the SYL canal in accordance with the internationally recognised principles of the riparian and basin states and the changed ground realities.

The meeting with the Prime Minister is fixed for June 9. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, Mr H.S. Hanspal, will accompany the Chief Minister.

Punjab would seek disbanding of the Eradi Tribunal which has “outlived” its life and demand the constitution of a new tribunal the terms of reference of which should embrace all points relevant to the current times. It would also seek that the Eradi Tribunal, revived after 17 years of hibernation, should be restrained from publishing its interim report of January 31, 1987, at this belated stage.

In fact, the NDA Government had accepted Punjab’s demand for a new tribunal, which was endorsed by all ministries concerned and Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee. But the decision to set up one was not implemented. The setting up of a new tribunal would again be sought under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.

The Council of Ministers also decided to constitute a Cabinet sub-committee under the Chief Minister to take appropriate decisions. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

The meeting also decided to place in the Vidhan Sabha on June 15 White Paper on the river waters and the SYL canal. A resolution adopted at the meeting favoured an all-party meeting to elicit political support of all shades of opinion for this “common cause”.

The Council of Ministers decided that “a resolution may be moved in the forthcoming session of the Vidhan Sabha to ponder over all aspects of the matter and to chalk out the future course of action on the basis of a consensus, cutting across party-lines”.

A resolution was adopted stressing that let first the source and quantum of available water be determined before deciding upon its sharing or distribution and the construction of SYL canal.

The resolution said Haryana’s suit of 1996 related to the construction of the SYL canal was decreed by the apex court on January 15, 2002, during the tenure of the Akali-BJP Government. “While the review petition was dismissed, leaving Punjab in a no-win situation, we made steadfast efforts despite heavy odds to get justice through administrative, legal and political means”.

Capt Amarinder Singh, who briefed the Press, assured the people of Punjab, especially the farming community, that the government would take all possible steps to “safeguard” their interests. He appealed to the Prime Minister to convene an emergency meeting to which all interested parties may be invited to amicably sort out various vexed issues pertaining to the SYL canal.