Haryana CM writes to Kejriwal on water shortage
Chandigarh, June 12: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the current water shortage of about 60 million gallons per day (MGD) in the national capital, saying it is just about 6.7 per cent of the total treatment capacity of more than 900 million gallons per day (MGD).
This can be resolved easily through internal actions of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Khattar said.
In a demi official letter sent to his counterpart as a reply to his last month's letter, Khattar said: "I am told that complete facts are perhaps not being presented before you. You may like to pose a simple question to your officers as to which of the following three calculations maximise Delhi's water entailment from Haryana.
"These are: (a) worked out as per share and allocation of Delhi; (b) worked out as per orders of the Supreme Court; and (c) worked out as per orders of the Delhi High Court."
"The task of maintaining a particular level of Wazirabad pond has to be performed by the DJB itself. After operationalisation of Carrier Lined Channel, Haryana is giving entire supply at Delhi Contact Point Bawana itself.
"We have acceded to request of the Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources to supply 120 cusecs through Diversion Drain-8 for the current summer only," said the Haryana Chief Minister.
"Delhi must make its own arrangements from the next year onwards as no supplies would be made through Diversion Drain-8 by Haryana on account of reasons explained in detail in our reply before the Supreme Court," he added.
Khattar also pointed to the controversial stance of the Delhi government by referring to demi official letter written by Kejriwal on May 16.
"We have been discharging all our obligations set forth by Upper Yamuna River Board in terms of share and allocation of water to Delhi. Despite the consequent adverse impact on drinking water supplies to thousands of our villages and several towns, we have never reduced the supply to Delhi. In fact, currently we are supplying 120 cusecs over and above our obligations," said Khattar.
Kejriwal had written letters to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Khattar, seeking supply of the same amount of water as the neighbouring state has been doing for 22 years.
He also expressed worry that disruption in water supply by Haryana would affect the functioning of the Chandrawal water treatment plant, which supplies water to VIP areas of Delhi, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament and embassies.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Next round of Iran-US negotiations expected soon: Pak's Defence Minister
_vb_61.jpeg)
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that the next round of Iran-US negotiations was expected soon.
Asif made these remarks on Monday, a day after the Islamabad talks failed to clinch a deal.
The 21-hour talks between the US and Iran on Saturday were the first of their kind since 1979 due to the involvement of top-level officials from both sides. The two sides, however, failed to secure a lasting peace deal to end hostilities following their talks in Pakistan over the weekend.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, Asif said there had been a sense of satisfaction after the talks that there were no negative developments so far.
“Only positive progress has been observed,” he said, indicating that the ongoing diplomatic efforts were moving in a constructive direction.
The next round of Iran-US negotiations was expected soon, he added.
The Express Tribune reported that responding to a question about whether Pakistan would play a decisive role in shaping the region’s future, Asif said that ultimate decisions rest with Allah.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad, said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Iran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions."
Pakistan led the diplomatic push to bring the two sides to the table, which became possible after an appeal by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier this week, leading to a pause in the fighting.
The conflict began after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, paralysing global energy markets and disrupting trade.
_vb_34.jpeg)
_vb_87.jpeg)
_vb_90.jpeg)