CENTRE TO CONSIDER HARYANA'S DEMAND FOR HARNESSING YAMUNA WATERS
Chandigarh September 27:
Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal has assured the Haryana Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav that he would take up with the Prime Minister the state's demand for convening a meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for harnessing the waters of the Yamuna river which had been wreaking havoc in many states.
Giving this assurance to Capt Yadav, who had called on him in New Delhi today, Mr Bansal said he would take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Commonwealth Games and the issue, repeatedly raised by Haryana, would be resolved amicably. Mr Bansal stressed the need for formulating a National Water Policy to make optimum utilisation of the rain water and asked states to cooperate. In order to utilise the 85 per cent of the rain water going waste at present, the country needed a comprehensive canal system supported by check dams and barrages.
Capt Yadav impressed upon Mr Bansal to take the initiative and call immediately a meeting of the UYRB and concerned Irrigation Ministers so that the flood waters could be harnessed. ''The flood waters are not only going waste but also bringing miseries to the people in different states, including Delhi. These could be harnessed to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the Basin states during the lean period,'' Capt Yadav said.
The role of UYRB which was looking after distribution of the available Yamuna waters on behalf of the partner states could be suitably amended and widened to oversee and manage execution of the storage projects on the Yamuna on behalf of the partner states, he said. Capt Yadav told Mr Bansal how the recent floods in the Yamuna had inundated hundreds of villages in Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat and Delhi, damaging standing crops in thousands of acres of land. ''This, coupled with the damage caused to the property, is a national loss which could have been prevented with the construction of upstream storage dams on the Yamuna.
Besides, the stored water could be used during the lean period to meet the growing drinking water and irrigation needs of the partner states, including Delhi,''he said. Capt Yadav said that since September 20, about 10 MAF of invaluable water had flowed down the Hathni Kund Barrage, while during the lean season the flow in the Yamuna at the barrage got reduced to only 2,000 to 3,000 cusecs. He pointed out that an MOU had been singed on May 12, 1994 between the five (now six) basin states for interim seasonal allocation of the annual utilisable flow of the Yamuna, pending construction of the Kishau, Lakhwar-Yyasi and Renuka dams.
This proposal, he said, was being deliberated for the last many years but no concrete steps had been initiated, except for the preliminary work on the Renuka Dam. These projects, he pointed out, had been declared as National Projects by the Centre. The Haryana government had sanctioned Rs 100 crore and the first instalment of Rs 25 crore had been deposited as state's share with the Himachal Government for the construction of Renuka Dam, Capt Yadav said.
Chandigarh September 27:
Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal has assured the Haryana Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav that he would take up with the Prime Minister the state's demand for convening a meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for harnessing the waters of the Yamuna river which had been wreaking havoc in many states.
Giving this assurance to Capt Yadav, who had called on him in New Delhi today, Mr Bansal said he would take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Commonwealth Games and the issue, repeatedly raised by Haryana, would be resolved amicably. Mr Bansal stressed the need for formulating a National Water Policy to make optimum utilisation of the rain water and asked states to cooperate. In order to utilise the 85 per cent of the rain water going waste at present, the country needed a comprehensive canal system supported by check dams and barrages.
Capt Yadav impressed upon Mr Bansal to take the initiative and call immediately a meeting of the UYRB and concerned Irrigation Ministers so that the flood waters could be harnessed. ''The flood waters are not only going waste but also bringing miseries to the people in different states, including Delhi. These could be harnessed to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the Basin states during the lean period,'' Capt Yadav said.
The role of UYRB which was looking after distribution of the available Yamuna waters on behalf of the partner states could be suitably amended and widened to oversee and manage execution of the storage projects on the Yamuna on behalf of the partner states, he said. Capt Yadav told Mr Bansal how the recent floods in the Yamuna had inundated hundreds of villages in Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat and Delhi, damaging standing crops in thousands of acres of land. ''This, coupled with the damage caused to the property, is a national loss which could have been prevented with the construction of upstream storage dams on the Yamuna.
Besides, the stored water could be used during the lean period to meet the growing drinking water and irrigation needs of the partner states, including Delhi,''he said. Capt Yadav said that since September 20, about 10 MAF of invaluable water had flowed down the Hathni Kund Barrage, while during the lean season the flow in the Yamuna at the barrage got reduced to only 2,000 to 3,000 cusecs. He pointed out that an MOU had been singed on May 12, 1994 between the five (now six) basin states for interim seasonal allocation of the annual utilisable flow of the Yamuna, pending construction of the Kishau, Lakhwar-Yyasi and Renuka dams.
This proposal, he said, was being deliberated for the last many years but no concrete steps had been initiated, except for the preliminary work on the Renuka Dam. These projects, he pointed out, had been declared as National Projects by the Centre. The Haryana government had sanctioned Rs 100 crore and the first instalment of Rs 25 crore had been deposited as state's share with the Himachal Government for the construction of Renuka Dam, Capt Yadav said.
