Shimla: A Supreme Court verdict about handing Himachal its due arrears from Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) projects that is yet to be honoured has a team from the state camping in Delhi to settle upon a due figure with the central government by the weekend on orders from the apex court.
Speaking to Hill Post, chief secretary Sudripta Roy said that on directions from the Supreme Court for settling the due arrears to Himachal within a week, we have a team of specialists consisting of engineers and accountants in Delhi negotiating with the central team to meet the courts Friday deadline.
Sources claimed that the two sides were in dispute over an amount of over Rs 800 crore.
While the state had calculated arrears as part of its due share of 7.19 percent share from the BBMB projects, which include Bhakra Dam, the Dehar project and Pong Dam project at Rs 4250 Cr, the union government was putting the figure at Rs 3400 Cr.
The large arrear amount is for the hill state being denied it share under in power generation as was settled under the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966, despite much land having been inundated and many families uprooted from their traditional lands.
At not being able to get its due share from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Rajasthan in the BBMB projects, Himachal had taken the matter to the Supreme Court and the court on September 27, 2011 had settled the matter in favour of the hill state.
As decreed by the Supreme Court Himachal has been now accepted as a full partner state in BBMB and has started getting its due 7.19 % power share from hydro plants under BBMB but the arrears to the tune of over Rs 4000 crores still await settlement.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
