Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, whose state is reeling under floods, targeted his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over rain situation in the national capital on Sunday.
"I am seeing many statements that the water is coming from Haryana and UP, we also receive water from Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan but we do not criticise them for the water as we believe that this is a natural phenomenon and we have to set a scientific solution for it. Blaming other state govt is not going to solve the problem, it is your problem and you have to resolve it by yourself," elaborated Sarma.
AAP leaders alleged that water released by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh caused the floods in Delhi.
Haryana minister defends his govt
Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal Thursday said not releasing excess water from the barrage could lead to a "bigger damage" in his state. His statement came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested Centre intervent into the matter. The Delhi CM in a letter to Union Home Minister had requested that "if possible, the water from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana be released in limited speed" and pointed out that the national capital is set to host the G20 Summit meeting in a few weeks.
"When there are floods or heavy rains as we saw in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and even in our state in the last few days, there is no option but to release water. If we hold the water, the situation will be disastrous," said Kanwar.
Pal said the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar district does not have a mechanism to store large volumes of water like a reservoir, adding that if water is held in the barrage beyond a permissible limit, a "bigger damage" could be caused.
There are two major barrages on the Yamuna -- Dakpathar in Dehradun and Hathnikund in Yamunanagar, upstream of Delhi. There are no dams on the river and, therefore, most of the monsoon flow remains unutilised, resulting in floods during the season.
Over the past few days, the gushing floodwaters from the Yamuna have also inundated vast tracts of agricultural land in Haryana's Karnal and Panipat districts and impacted some villages.
(With PTI inputs)
