CHANDIGARH: The ongoing fight between Punjab and Haryana on the distribution of water from phase-V and VI of scheme from Kajauli water works has cost the Chandigarh administration Rs 171 crore, as the Centre has withdrawn sanction of the said amount to the UT granted under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ( JNNURM ).

Intimation in this regard was conveyed by Assistant Solicitor General of India Rupinder Singh Khosla before the Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday during the resumed hearing of a case pertaining to the issue.

Khosla informed the HC that the project was a “non-starter” and the grant of Rs 171 crore to the Chandigarh administration stood cancelled following recommendations by the “central committee”. He added that the amount was initially granted till 2012 and was later extended to 2013. However, the same was cancelled as the work on the project had not even started due to disagreement between the parties. With this, the cost of construction work will now be born by the states/UT. However, the states of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday raised a new contention that the high court had no jurisdiction to hear the issue as it was an inter-state dispute.

A division bench headed by the acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh adjourned the case to July 8.

The UT administration had got the grant for completion of the project of phases V and VI of Kajauli water works for futuristic requirements by projecting figures of population of Chandigarh as 14.06 lakh in 2012 and 24.01 lakh persons in 2027. The matter had reached the high court through a writ petition filed by Mohali councilor Kuljeet Singh Bedi seeking directions to expedite the completion of the project that would bring an additional 40 million gallons of water every day for the Tricity. Chandigarh and Punjab agreed to increase the diameter of the proposed pipeline for 1,600 mm to 2,400 mm so that the increased diameter could carry 80 MGD (million gallons daily) water, thus, obviating the need for a separate pipeline as also additional land acquisition for phase VII and VIII.