11-member Committee to go into Yamuna water accord

Chandigarh, Sep 19 (UNI) Haryana Speaker Raghbir Singh Kadian today announced the formation of an 11-member committee to analyse the circumstances which led to the signing of the 1994 Yamuna Water Accord.

The Committee to be headed by the Speaker would go into the 'discrepancies between the Cabinet decisions taken then and the signed document or accord'.

The Committee will review the document signed by the then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal in 1994 for the Renuka and Kishau dams. It will suggest terms for the Lakhwar Vyas dam.

The Committee will also suggest terms for construction and maintenance of the three dams by a central agency on the pattern of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to avoid inter-state disputes.

It may be recalled that in the 1994 agreement, signed between Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, Haryana's share was reduced from 66.66 to 47.8 per cent while UP's share was slightly increased.

Besides the Speaker, the other members of the Committee include Mr Bhajan Lal, Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, Finance Minister Birender Singh and Haryana Pradesh Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana, all of the Congress. The other members are Mrs Rekha Rana (INLD), Ram Kumar Gautam (BJP), Sukhbir Singh (NCP), Arjun Singh (BSP) and Radhe Shyam Sharma (Ind).

The decision to form the Committee was taken on the suggestion of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, who during Zero Hour in the Assembly today, expressed concern of the members of the House on this Accord as it did not benefit the State of Haryana.

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