Centre to hold meeting of states to discuss river water issue

The Centre will soon hold a meeting of the states, including Punjab and Haryana, to resolve the contentious issue of sharing of river water between them.
"The Ministry of Water Resources will soon call a meeting of the affected states, including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, to discuss river water issue," Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh said here today.
He was briefing reporters about the points discussed during the meeting of the northern zonal council (NZC), chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, here.
During the meeting, he said that the states concerned reached a consensus that the issue of sharing of river water, which has been pending for several years, needs to be resolved.

"There is consensus among all the states and they want it (river water issue) to be resolved. As there are a lot of nitty gritty involved, the Ministry of Water Resources has called a meeting of the states concerned to resolve it following a detailed discussion," Secretary of Inter-state council Secretariat, Sanjeevani Kutty said.
Stating that as many as 18 issues of common interest were discussed during the meeting, she said there was a consensus on all the issues among states but solution has not come yet.

"The water sharing issue is a complicated one which has been pending for last several years. Some of them are in the Supreme Court," she said.

Notably, Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal issue is a contentious issue between Punjab and Haryana.
On April 20, in a meeting of Chief Secretaries of both Punjab and Haryana with Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Punjab had expressed inability to share water with its neighbouring states and sought a realistic solution while Haryana demanded completion of construction of incomplete parts of the SYL canal at the earliest. This matter is also being heard in the Supreme Court.
In today's meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh urged Singh and the chief ministers of Haryana and Rajasthan to settle this issue out of court through discussion with the intervention of Ministry of Water Resources.

"Amarinder suggested that a fresh data collection of availability of river water be made in the wake of change in climate, monsoon, Himalayan glaciers as river water flow has changed during last 3 to 4 decades. Data analyses can be made by experts," said the Punjab Chief Secretary.
He further said that a discussion on collection of fresh data was also held and there was a consensus that states concerned needed to look at it.
In the meeting, the Punjab CM also raised the issue of cross border drug smuggling and urged the union minister to direct the BSF to stop the supply of narcotics that come from across the border.

Punjab CS said Amarinder also sought sharing of intelligence among neighbouring states and fast prosecution to deal with drug problem in the state.
A representative of Himachal Pradesh also sought a campaign against drug menace to be undertaken collectively by neighbouring states.
On the Shahpur Kandi power project, Punjab Chief Secretary said that Punjab had ratified the agreement signed with Jammu nad Kashmir in this regard in March. "If J&K can also ratify this agreement, then this power project can start," he said.
"Amarinder also sought time bound action plan to deal with problem of pollution in Ghaggar and Sutlej rivers," said Punjab CS.

All the member states unanimously agreed to jointly tackle the problem of water pollution under the guidance of central pollution control board, official said.
Giving details, Kutty said for the export promotion of fruits, flowers and vegetables, APEDA has sanctioned projects to J&K, HP, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Out of 18 issues discussed today, seven issues were resolved, said a PIB release.