Cases pertaining to division of assets and liabilities between Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, which have been lying pending for more than about 16 years will be resolved in a time bound manner. This and other decisions were taken in a meeting of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat with his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath in lucknow on Monday.
Rawat called on his Uttar Pradesh counterpart at his residence and attended a meeting along with senior officials concerned of both the States. Issues lying pending between the two neighbour States were discussed in detail during this meeting. It was decided that the pending issues will be resolved in a time bound manner. A complete note will be prepared on each case, registering the position of both the States. It was also decided that a meeting of Chief Secretaries of both the States be held in the near future and a final decision be taken on issues in which mutual agreement is reached. Where necessary, the agreement will be established at the level of the ministers concerned. The cases not resolved at the minister level will be decided at the Chief Minister level. Both the sides also reached an agreement that the various pending issues be resolved in a time bound manner. In cases of issues on which disagreement still persists, a decision should be secured at the Government of India level with the decision taken by the Centre being accepted by both the sides. Share in the electricity generated at Tehri dam hydro electricity project; transfer of assets of the irrigation department including residential and non-residential buildings, vacant land and land in the Kumbh Mela area in Haridwar, Jamrani dam, various reservoirs, the due electricity bill of Uttar Pradesh irrigation department; payment of passenger tax under the transport department, ownership transfer of the Kichha bus station and other issues related to tourism, forests, education, cooperatives and other departments were also discussed in the meeting.
Earlier, Rawat and Adityanath exchanged information about the works started by their respective state governments. Rawat appreciated the various decisions taken by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Stating that corruption is the biggest hurdle on the developmental path, he said that a policy of zero-tolerance to corruption has also been adopted in Uttarakhand. Rawat further opined that the present governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have positive intention with the Central Government also having a cooperative stance. Mutual cooperation will help increase the pace of developmental works in both the states, he added. The Bharatiya Janata Party Uttarakhand president Ajay Bhatt, Uttarakhand’s additional chief secretary Omprakash and senior officials of Uttar Pradesh were also among those present.