Jammu & Kashmir to seek Centre’s intervention to settle water dispute with Punjab

By admin On Jun 21, 2015

STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir government will seek Centre’s intervention to settle the water sharing dispute with the neighbouring Punjab, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said on Saturday.
A meeting of Committee on Estimates of JK Legislative Assembly has recently observed that Shahpur Kandi Dam in Punjab is not giving due share to the state as per the agreement with state government.
Speaking over the issue of Shahpur Kandi Canal, Sayeed said,”I will seek intervention of the Centre so that the matter is amicably resolved with the Punjab Government as the project is significant for irrigating huge tracts of agricultural land in Kathua district.”
Mufti was chairing District Development Board Meeting of Kathua and Samba districts.
Describing Kathua and Samba as the gateway and industrial hub of the state respectively, the chief minister asked the administration to take full advantage of the revised financing scheme which focuses on decentralisation and assigns greater role and responsibility to the districts.
Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and JK Finance Minister Haseeb A Drabu were among those present at the meeting.
In the meeting, Rs 162.18 crore capital allocation for Kathua district was approved. For Samba, a capital plan allocation of Rs 86.62 crore was sanctioned.
The chief minister flagged education, health, tourism and agriculture as the prime focus areas of the government.
The chief minister issued directions for immediate up-gradation of all roads in Kathua and Samba, in particular Kathua-Basohli road to improve access to Ranjit Sagar Dam, which the government is promoting as an independent water-sports destination.
To hold contractors accountable for executing road projects, the chief minister said the government will make it binding on them to maintain roads for three years.
Referring to the dearth of specialist doctors and nurses in the health sector, Sayeed said the new Recruitment Policy, which is on the anvil, will ensure appointment of qualified medical and paramedical staff in the district and state cadres.