Ramesh raps Delhi, Haryana on Yamuna
Former cricketer Madan Lal takes part in a road safety campaign being organised by the Delhi traffic police on Wednesday. PHOTO
Union minister for environment & forests, Jairam Ramesh, on Wednesday targeted the Delhi and Haryana governments for their failure to clean the Yamuna and blaming each other instead for pollution in the river.
Speaking at the launch of the real-time Ambient Noise Monitoring Network (ANMN) here, the minister said, “Delhi and Haryana... I want once and for all passing the buck on Yamuna to stop. One day Haryana is blaming Delhi and the next day Delhi is blaming Haryana... We need to do something for this river especially since money is not a problem”.
Mr Ramesh revealed that he had convened a meeting of the chief ministers of the two states on coming Sunday and hoped that a consensus would evolve on what steps must be taken to stop the pollution of the river.
The Union minister further said that officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had identified what steps must be taken by both states to end pollution and he had convened a meeting of the two chief ministers on Sunday so that “we can all sit down I hope for once and for all, clarify what steps have to be taken by Haryana and what steps have to be taken by Delhi.’
“The CPCB officials have done all the homework and I have informed the CMs that money is not a problem because we can get funds under the environmental remediation window (200 crores) that has been set up as part of the budget,” the minister said.
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CM informs GoM about water row
New Delhi, March 23: Chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday apprised the Group of Ministers headed by Union home minister P. Chidambaram about her government’s position on the Munak Canal dispute with the neighbouring state of Haryana.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) in January to find an amicable solution to the dispute between the two states.
“I have apprised the GoM about our position on the issue,” Ms Dikshit said after the meeting.
The Munak canal was constructed by Haryana with financial assistance of `350 crores given by Delhi government on the condition that the capital will be supplied 80 MGD water from it. But later, Haryana refused to supply the water to the city.
The Delhi government has already paid around `350 crores for the construction of nearly 80 per cent of the channel in its territory. Officials said Haryana has now demanded an additional `150 crores. —PTI
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