Indian delegation in Pakistan for water talks
Lahore, Aug 28 : A nine-member Indian delegation, led by Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena, arrived here on Tuesday to attend a two-day meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission set to begin on Wednesday.
The talks will be the first official engagement between the two countries since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office this month.
Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah welcomed the Indian delegation at the Wagah border and will lead his side during the discussions at the Lahore headquarters of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan, Dawn online reported.
During the talks, Pakistan would raise its concerns over the designs of 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir being built by India, the daily said.
Islamabad says that that New Delhi violated the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by starting construction of reservoirs at a time when the country was reeling from severe water shortage.
Pakistan wants India to either modify them to make them compliant to the Treaty or put the projects on hold until an understanding is reached between the two sides.
According to reports, the Indian delegation was initially supposed to visit Pakistan in July, but later the meeting was postponed.
During the talks, the two sides will finalize the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners.
The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to project sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timin meetings and visits, an official told Dawn daily.
The two-day session was also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
