No spare water to share with any state: Punjab Cabinet

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, on Thursday opined that the state has no spare water to share with any other state so there “is no question of construction of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal".

It firmly said the Satluj river has already dried up and there is no question of sharing even a single drop of water from it.

"Punjab has no surplus water to share with Haryana and reassessment of availability of water is required as per international norms," an official statement said.

It was also observed that Punjab’s 76.5 percent blocks (117 out of 153) are over exploited where the stage of groundwater extraction is more than 100 per cent, whereas in Haryana only 61.5 percent (88 out of 143) are over exploited.

The Cabinet also gave its consent for sending the case of two prisoners for seeking the premature release of life convicts confined in jails of the state.

After the nod of the Cabinet under Article 163 of the Constitution, these special remission or premature release cases will be submitted to the Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution for consideration.

In a major relief to the people, the Cabinet also remitted three percent additional stamp duty (Social Security Fund) levied on Property Registration in Urban Areas (Municipal Corporation and Class-1 Municipalities) upto December 31.

Keeping in view the public interest, the Cabinet gave its consent to omit Section 3-C and Schedule 1-B, which is chargeable under section 3-C of the Indian Stamp Act 1899. This move will provide concession to property buyers in Urban Areas (Municipal Corporation and Class-1 Municipalities).

The Cabinet also gave the approval to the proposal for introduction of the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill -- 2023 to make certain amendments in Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 in consonance with directions of GST Council.

The Cabinet also gave green signal to a policy to regularise existing standalone buildings such as hotels, multiplexes, farmhouses, educational, medical, industrial institutes and others, constructed without permission of the department outside the municipal limits, urban estates and industrial focal points. Under this policy, the opportunity will be given till December 31 to apply for regularisation of standalone buildings, constructed without prior permission.

The public may avail the benefit of this policy by submitting requisite documents, as per the applicability. The cases received under this policy will be disposed of within six months.