BBMB share: Punjab,Haryana oppose Himachal’s claim

At the meeting convened by Union Power Secretary P Umashankar,following Supreme Court directions,both Punjab and Haryana asserted that whatever had been granted to Himachal was final and there was no need to redefine the shares. Rajasthan,which was also invited for the meeting,however,left it to the Centre to resolve the matter. It,however,opposed 12 per cent free power to Himachal from the projects commissioned before the cut-off date of June 1990,according to the Centre’s earlier notification.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop,along with Principal Secretary (Power) Deepak Sanan,represented the state in the meeting. She said the Centre might convene a follow-up meeting with the states and try to reach at a consensus. Law Secretary A C Dogra,had also gone to Delhi for the meeting but did not attend the meeting.

“All four states were given an opportunity to present their cases and also submit supporting documents so that the Centre could scrutinise the papers and take a final view on the issue before the Supreme Court takes a judicial view of the matter. The issue has remained unresolved for the last four decades and deprived Himachal of its assets granted under the State’s Reorganisation Act 1966,” said Swaroop.

In 1996,the Himachal Pradesh government had filed a case in the Supreme Court,alleging denial of its lawful share from the BBMB projects. Though the state had paid up its liabilities,only ad hoc share was given to it

During Wednesday’s meeting,both Punjab and Haryana claimed that whatever Himachal had been given was final and not ad hoc. To counter this,the state officials handed over the records of all previous meetings and also decisions showing that Himachal had not been given its legitimate share.

On April 29,2010,the SC had said before any decision is taken on merit the Centre should try to “to bring all parties to the dispute to a negotiated settlement”.