Haryana for storage reservoirs in Yamuna valley

Chandigarh, July 25 (UNI) Haryana Irrigation and Revenue Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav today met Union Minister of Water Resources Saif-ud-Din Soz and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and called for creating storage reservoirs in the Yamuna valley to store surplus water in the monsoon period.

This water could be utilised to meet the demand of drinking water, irrigation and power in the Yamuna basin States, Mr Yadav told the Union Ministers in separate meetings held in New Delhi.

At present a lot of water goes waste during the monsoon season in river Yamuna as no dam had been constructed on it so far.

Capt Yadav said the work on Lakhwar Dam Project on river Yamuna in Uttrakhand was stopped in 1992 and arbitration proceedings were going on since then without any further progress.

The work on Kishau Dam Project on river Tons has also not been started so far and clearance from Central Electricity Authority, Central Water Commission, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Tribal Affairs were yet to be obtained, he added.

He said Haryana was ready to bear the cost of these projects in proportion to its share in river Yamuna as per the MoU of May 12, 1994 among the partner States.

He requested the Union Water Resources Minister to convene a meeting of upper Yamuna Review Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to expedite the construction of these two projects.

He also suggested that a board for construction and maintenance of these projects on river Yamuna should be constituted on the pattern of BBMB.

Mr Yadav, in his meeting with the Union Water Resources Minister, also raised the issue of pollution being received in the Mewat region of Haryana through river Yamuna from Delhi and requested him to take up the matter with the Delhi government so that water of requisite quality is only discharged into river Yamuna from the various sewege drains of Delhi.

He said due to pollution in Delhi stretch of Yamuna, the Haryana government had submitted a project for construction of Mewat Canal to supply clean drinking water to the people of Mewat region costing Rs 326 crore with Central Water Commission for its approval.

UNI