• SYL is a 214 km long water canal proposed to connect the Sutlej River in Punjab to Yamuna in Haryana at Palla village, near Delhi. Its 122 kilometre stretch falls under Punjab and the remaining 92 kilometre is in Haryana.

• A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been announced by Haryana government for completion of SYL in budget 2018-19.
• Besides transfer of water for irrigation needs, two hydel power projects are also proposed on SYL, it can also be used for shipping purposes.
• It comes under the Bhakra- Beas Management Board (BBMB) which was constituted under a central legislation i.e. the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
• Construction of SYL was started in 1984 and a major part of the canal was completed in the Punjab territory in 1990s itself, only a small part is left to be completed.

• Controversies about the SYL Canal can be traced back to the mid-1960s, started after the reorganisation of Punjab. When the state was bifurcated, the sharing of the river water also became a bone of contention.
• According to 1976 deal, centre allocated 3.5 MAF of water to Haryana, 3.5 MAF to Punjab, 8 MAF to Rajasthan and 0.2 MAF to Delhi. Due to the opposition of Punjab to the deal, Haryana has approached the Supreme Court in 1979.
• In 1980’s, Indira Gandhi intervened and as a result Punjab government withdrew its suit from the Supreme Court. But Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has continued to oppose the canal. The foundation stone of the canal was laid on April 8, 1982, by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Kapoori village, in Patiala.
• At that time militancy in Punjab was at its peak and the labourers working there were attacked, as a result the construction of SYL was halted
• Rajiv - Longowal Accord of 1985 i.e the Punjab Accord tried to solve the issue but with little success. Justice V Balakrishna Eradi tribunal was also set up to specify the quantum of Ravi-Baes waters to be shared among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
• In 2002, the Supreme Court directed the Punjab government to continue digging for the project. In 2004, Punjab state passed the ‘’Punjab Termination of Agreement Act’’, to de-notify the land acquired for the project. It annuls the 1981 Indira Gandhi award and subsequent agreements relating to the distribution of Ravi- Beas waters.
• The validity of the law was questioned, as it was in direct confrontation to a Supreme Court judgement.
• More recently in 2016, the Supreme Court took up the matter for hearing. At the same time Punjab legislature passed another bill i.e the Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights), to restore the land acquired for the canal back to the farmers.
• The Supreme Court has ordered status quo on the bill but Punjab government is defending it by citing that under Article 143, the Supreme Court has only advisory functions, and hence cannot pass an assumptive interim order.

Haryana's claim:  Haryana has been staking claim on Ravi-Beas waters through SYL canal on the plea that providing water for irrigation was a tough task for the state. In southern parts, where the underground water had depleted up to 1700 feet, there was a problem of drinking water.

Haryana has been invoking its contribution to the central food bowl and lamenting that justice had been denied to the state by not providing it its rightful share in the water as assessed by a tribunal.