UP, U'khand CM's agree to resolve pending issues

The chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand today asked their chief secretaries to coordinate and resolve all pending issues between the states within three months.
The decision was taken at a meeting between chief ministers Yogi Adityanath and Trivendra Singh Rawat at the former's residence in Lucknow.
"The UP Chief Minister has asked for resolving of all pending issues between the two states at the earliest. He has said that the chief secretaries of both states should hold a meeting and decide on all such issues within three months," an official spokesman of the Uttar Pradesh government said.
The Chief Minister (Adityanath) noted that it was not in the interest of either of the states that issues remain pending even after 16 years of Uttarakhand's creation, he said.

Often referred to as "Devbhumi" (land of the Gods) as it has many Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres, Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000 and it became India's 27th state.
Both the BJP chief ministers discussed many issues, including those related to transfer of assets. Adityanath suggested that all pending issues be resolved in a time-bound manner, the spokesman said.

He asked all officials concerned to send the remarks of their respective departments to the Uttarakhand government by May 10, he said.
Issues like sharing of power produced by the Tehri Dam project, distribution of assets pertaining to the irrigation department, including residential and non-residential buildings, and land in disuse, including those at Haridwar-Kumbh area and at Jamrani Dam, among others were discussed by them, an official release in Dehradun said.

Property-related issues of the transport, finance, housing, food and civil supplies, home, tourism, education, information and public relations departments are pending between the two states, the spokesman said.
Besides, issues related to forests, rural development, sugar industry and cane development, industrial development, cooperatives and Uttarakhand Warehousing Corporation limited are also pending, he added.
Both Rawat and his UP counterpart agreed to prepare a complete note on the pending issues and sort them out in a time-bound manner through mutual agreement, the release said.
If disagreement persists over some matter between the states, they can be sorted out in consultation with the central government, it said.

It has been agreed that the situation is ideal as both governments are inclined to resolve the pending matters and the Centre is ready to co-operate, the release said.