India's top court ordered authorities in northern Punjab state Thursday to share river water supplies with a neighbouring state, triggering a spate of resignations by angry lawmakers. The water dispute between Punjab and Haryana has been simmering for over a decade, after a bilateral agreement to construct a 214-kilometre (133-mile) canal connecting two rivers in the states was unilaterally scrapped in 2004.
The Supreme Court said the Punjab government's decision to terminate the agreement via a state legislation was unconstitutional and defied the court's own earlier orders calling for the canal's completion.