Assembly passes resolution asking Punjab govt to take up levy on waters with Centre

Chandigarh : The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday passed a resolution, directing the state government to demand charges for river waters flowing to the non-riparian states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. The Vidhan Sabha asked the state government to seek the help of the Centre to recover the charges for the state’s waters.
The Vidhan Sabha also directed the Punjab government, council of ministers and all state government employees not to hand over any land to any agency for the construction of the SYL canal; neither let any agency do any work on it, nor cooperate with any agency for the construction of the SYL canal.
Also read: Punjab Assembly’s resolution on SYL ‘meaningless’, says Hooda
The proposal was mooted by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Badal claimed that almost 150 blocks in the state were water-stressed, so the state could not part with its waters.
The directions were passed by the Vidhan Sabha even as the opposition Congress MLAs, who had tendered their resignation last week in wake of the SC verdict rendering the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act invalid, chose to stay away from the special emergency session.
However, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains–both independent MLAs–and Pargat Singh, who recently resigned from the Akali Dal, were present.