Opposition, govt argue over fate of Dadupur Nalvi irrigation scheme

Congress MLAs on Monday questioned the Haryana government on the fate of Dadupur Nalvi Irrigation scheme following a high court order striking down a provision to de-notify the land for the irrigation scheme.

The contentious issue was argued during the question hour on the second day of the assembly session when parliamentary affairs minister Mahipal Dhanda answered in negative a starred question asked by the Congress MLA from Ambala City, Nirmal Singh.

The Congress MLA had asked whether the Punjab and Haryana High Court had passed a judgement for the re-construction of Dadupur Nalvi canal and the action likely to be taken by the state government in this regard. The parliamentary affairs minister said if the high court has given a decision to this effect (ordering re-construction of Dadupur Nalvi canal), then the government would like to see a copy of the order.

Responding to Dhanda, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that everyone knows about the high court order in this regard. “The high court has ruled against the government. The government is supposed to know what the court has decided,” Hooda said.

Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said the high court did not order construction of canal. “The HC has only quashed a provision in land acquisition law. We will challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court,’’ Saini said.

Hooda then asked the treasury benches to respond in yes or no whether the government would construct the Dadupur Nalvi canal or not. Arguments and counter-arguments continued before assembly speaker Harvinder Kalyan intervened to say that the government had all the information and it would have responded to the question after examining the information.

Dissatisfied by the government’s response, the Congress benches staged a symbolic walkout before coming back to their seats a few minutes later.

Later at a briefing, Hooda said the opposition was not satisfied with the reply of the government. “It is a matter of immense importance. The government ordered denotification merely because there were court orders for paying heavy compensation to farmers for the acquired land,’’ Hooda said.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on December 20, 2024 struck down a provision in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 to de-notify tracts of land acquired for public purpose. The striking down of the section 101-A of the 2013 Act meant that Haryana government’s move to de-notify and return 1,019 acres, acquired for the Dadupur-Nalvi irrigation scheme, to the land owners became invalid. De-notification of land acquired by the state government for public purpose means that the land will be returned to the original land owners after recovering the compensation amount paid to them for acquisition.

The HC bench had ruled that they were of the firm opinion that section 101-A is liable to be struck down, suffering from the vice of manifest arbitrariness. “We are of the considered opinion that the action of the state government in de-notifying was dehors the policy at the highest level in spite of the same being in place and, therefore, even the action itself is liable to be struck down,’’ said the HC bench of Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan.

The Dadupur-Nalvi Irrigation Scheme was conceptualised in 1980s for irrigating tracts in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Ambala districts by releasing about 590 cusecs of water annually from Yamuna river into a lined channel taking off from Dadupur. It was for recharging the groundwater table as well as to provide canal irrigation to the three districts.