Chandigarh, April 18 -- Trashing the statement made by Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri regarding the Shanan Power Project, Punjab Power Minister S. Harbhajan Singh ETO on Friday categorically said that the project is the "property of Punjab" and the neighbouring state has "no right" on it.
The Punjab minister, in a statement, said that Agnihotri should first be aware of the facts regarding the ownership of the project instead of making "unfounded statements". "In the lack of information about the facts, Mr Agnihotri is denting the strong mutual relationship of both states," he said.
Singh stated that in 1966, the state of Punjab was reorganised, and after that the Government of India issued a notification on May 1, 1967, regarding the ownership of the assets and liabilities of the reorganised states. "As per section 67(4) of the Punjab Reorganization Act 1966, the Government of India allotted the assets and liabilities of Hydro Power House Joginder Nagar to the Punjab State Electricity Board, which is now providing services in the state of Punjab as PSPCL," he said.
Singh said that the Punjab Reorganization Act determines the rights of the states therefore, the Shanan project is the property of the state of Punjab.
He further said that the Union Ministry of Irrigation and Power, in a letter dated March 22, 1972, had informed the Himachal Pradesh government that the notification dated May 1, 1967, regarding the allotment of power stations would not be revised. Apart from this, the issue regarding ownership of the property was also raised by the Himachal Pradesh government with the Union Ministry of Energy, which was again "clearly rejected by the Government of India in the year 1987".
Singh said that by giving such "fabricated" statements, Agnihotri was trying to "mislead" the people, which was totally unacceptable.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.