Other States - Haryana   

Govt. to take ‘appropriate steps’ on water resources

Chandigarh: The Haryana Government on Tuesday told the Assembly that it would take all “appropriate steps” to protect the State interests with regard to water resources.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said this, intervening during a reply given by Irrigation Minister Ajay Yadava to a calling attention notice.

Mr. Yadava in reply to the notice of ruling Congress member Karan Singh Dalal, told the House that “grave injustice” had been done to the State by the (Congress) Government in 1994 due to signing of the draft on construction of dams in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and MoU on sharing of the Yamuna water.

Thirteen years ago a draft agreement was signed between five northern States for the construction of two dams in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and an MoU on sharing of the Yamuna water.

Mr. Yadava in his reply to the Notice said that till 1994 the water of Yamuna was allocated to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the ratio of about two-third and one-third respectively in terms of an agreement of 1954 between Punjab, which included Haryana areas, and Uttar Pradesh.

But as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on May 12, 1994, (when Haryana had a Congress Government headed by Bhajan Lal and he (Mr. Yadava) was also a minister), between five States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, Haryana’s share got reduced to 47.8 per cent from 66.66 per cent and the share of Uttar Pradesh got increased.

“Whatever was given to Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi went out of the share of Haryana,” Mr. Yadava said in his reply.

Answering a question on his being a party to the decision of Bhajan Lal ministry in 1994, Mr. Yadava told reporters that at that he was not the Irrigation Minister.

“Jagdish Nehra was the Irrigation Minister and Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister...,” he said.

Asked about the absence of Mr. Lal from the House when the issue was discussed in the Assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Yadava alleged that “Bhajan Lal went out of the House in order to save his face as members from the ruling party were also agitated at his stand taken in 1994.”

He said that two draft agreements were prepared between the five States regarding construction of Kishau Dam in Uttar Pradesh and Renuka Dam across river Giri in Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Yadava demanded that the Himachal project be made a cost-sharing project between the co-basin States and that its benefits come to all the five States. — PTI

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Govt. to take ‘appropriate steps’ on water resources

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