The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi asks Haryana to fulfil its promises

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Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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Delhi asks Haryana to fulfil its promises

Staff Reporter

Sheila Dikshit seeks NCR Planning Board’s intervention on water, expressway and garbage disposal facilities

Photo: V. Sudershan

All smiles: Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Finance and Urban Development Minister A. K. Walia, Lt. Governor Tejinder Khanna, Union Information Technology Minister A. Raja and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda during the 30th meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: The National Capital Region Planning Board meeting here on Tuesday provided an opportune moment to the Delhi Government to seek the Board’s intervention in ensuring that Haryana fulfils its longstanding commitment on constructing the Munak channel for supplying water to Delhi and also speeds up the pace of work on the East-West Expressway for which Delhi has already paid nearly Rs. 270 crore to the State Government.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit addressing the meeting said while Delhi had been contributing the maximum funds towards the Board it had not been getting its due in return. “This is not fair. Delhi is one of the most densely populated cities and that puts an enormous amount of pressure on its land resources. As such we would like our neighbouring States to help us with issues pertaining to solid waste management that require a lot of land. On our part, we would be willing to make the necessary payments for this purpose,” she said.

Ms. Dikshit lamented that while Delhi had been playing its role in providing all sorts of facilities to its neighbours they had not responded in kind.

“We have made huge payments for the Munak channel and the East-West Expressway. But work on them is far behind schedule. Also, as we have been instrumental in ensuring that the satellite townships around Delhi flourish with the help of the Delhi Metro, we expect similar friendly behaviour from our neighbours.”

The Chief Minister said while Haryana accuses Delhi of not relocating its industries there, the fact remains that many industrialists still find Delhi a better place to operate from. “It is for other States to improve their infrastructure,” she said.

Ms. Dikshit said in view of its experience Delhi wants a periodic review of the progress made on various issues discussed during the NCR Planning Board meetings. “Meeting every six or 12 months is not good enough,” she said, adding that it had been agreed that henceforth the Secretary Urban Development would convene a meeting every three months.

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