Inam Ansari
Chandigarh (The Hawk): Plans of Haryana to get river water direct from Himachal Pradesh is going to become a political tool for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a political party of Punjab. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday said Haryana did not have any right to River waters from Himachal Pradesh being a non-riparian State even as he asserted that Himachal should not part with River waters to a non-riparian State without the consent of the downstream State. Terming news reports of negotiations having started between Himachal and Haryana to construct a canal to take River waters directly from Himachal to Haryana and a likely meeting to finalize this arrangement on June 5, the SAD president said “another conspiracy has been initiated to rob Punjab of its River waters. We will not let it succeed at any cost”. It is pertinent to mention here that on May 31, Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar said that an important meeting would be held with Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister on June 5; comprising of various issues including construction of Kishau dam, construction of new parallel linked channel from Dadupur to Hamida Head, Saraswati River Rejuvenation and Heritage Development Project, SYL canal water via Himachal Pradesh and imposition of cess on electricity. In a high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister with administrative secretaries to review projects worth more than Rs 100 crore, Haryana CM said that work is being done on various schemes for drinking water and irrigation. “It is the priority of the state government to provide clean drinking water in sufficient quantities to the citizens across the state uninterruptedly. Also, water will be available fo ...
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