Willing to provide water to state facing shortage: Himachal CM Sukhvinder Sukhu

Shimla, June 14

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that after meeting its own requirement, Himachal was willing to provide water to any state that was facing scarcity.

Sukhu, while talking to mediapersons here, said that there was no justification in blocking water supply to any state that was facing shortage. “There has to be a consensus between Haryana and Delhi on the issue of sharing water, as water released by Himachal will pass through Haryana,” he added.

He said, “Himachal is bound by the Yamuna Water Treaty and reports that Himachal is not providing water are totally wrong.”

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that Himachal should place its viewpoint before court if the hill state faced water shortage but “when you are a signatory to an agreement, one has to honour it”.

Sukhu said that the Congress would soon announce candidates for the three Assembly byelections in Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur. “It is for the public to decide whether the decision of the three former Independent MLAs to resign from the Assembly and join the BJP was right or wrong. Being Independent they were free to support the Congress or the BJP, so there is a big question mark as to why they resigned within 15 months of the Congress forming government and joined the BJP,” he added.