Chandigarh : Pushing for a consensus solution to the SYL dispute, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday called for coordination by the states concerned with the Centre to find a feasible solution for optimal utilisation of river waters based on internationally accepted riparian principles.
Addressing the 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council (NZC) here, the Chief Minister also sought the Centre’s help in supplementing the state’s efforts to check cross-border smuggling of drugs, which his government was committed to eliminating. Referring to the border status of Punjab, Amarinder again reiterated his demand for Central government concessions, on the lines of the fiscal and industrial concessions being given to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, to compensate the state for the financial and economic loss already suffered by it. This, he said, was necessary to provide a level-playing field to Punjab. Though he did not make a direct reference to the SYL, Amarinder reiterated his demand for re-assessment and re-determination of the availability of surface waters in the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers. Pointing out that Punjab was suffering an ecological crisis because of depletion of ground water, he urged the Centre to take expert advice on how to make reliable estimates of future flows in these rivers.
Referring to the rampant drug menace in Punjab, the Chief Minister noted that since the border was manned by central security forces, the Union Home Minister, who was presiding over the meeting, should order strict vigil on the border to check cross-border smuggling of drugs. Underlining the need to combat the drug problem in a systematic and organised manner, he stressed the importance of inter-state coordination and urged the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to make focused efforts for the destruction of illegal cultivation of poppy and cannabis. The Chief Minister also called for effective plugging of pilferage of narcotic substances from areas where they are being cultivated legally for pharmaceutical and related purposes. Sharing of information and initiating criminal action against the smugglers involved in this nefarious trade should be promoted, he stressed, while calling for shifting of poppy husk vends located in Rajasthan along the border villages of Punjab.
The Chief Minister called for greater operational freedom to states, cutting across party lines, in choosing and financing their developmental properties. He cited the need for states to have more funds for their primary development needs and reiterated his demand for an increase, to at least 50%, in the percentage of devolution of central funds to the states.