Budget Session Haryana Vidhan Sabha:Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal strongly opposes Himachal Pradesh government’s ordinance to impose water cess on hydropower projects for non-consumptive use of water for power generation. That this water cess is illegal and not binding on the State of Haryana, therefore it should be immediately withdrawn by the Government of Himachal Pradesh.
On the last day of the budget session of the Haryana Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister moved a resolution to oppose this ordinance of the Himachal Pradesh government, which was also supported by the opposition and the resolution was passed unanimously in the House. The House has also urged the Central Government To order the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw this ordinance, as it is also in violation of the Central Act i.e. the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.
Manohar Lal while reading the resolution said that this water cess would put an additional financial burden of Rs 1200 crore per year on the participating states, out of which the burden of about Rs 336 crore would be borne by the Haryana state. This cess is not only infringing on the exclusive rights of the State over natural resources, but also imposes an additional financial burden on power generation, resulting in higher cost of power generation.
He said that the imposition of water cess by the Himachal Pradesh government is against the provisions of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956. The state of Haryana is already giving 7.19 percent power of the composite share of Haryana and Punjab to Himachal through the Bhakra Beas Management Projects. Therefore this ordinance should be withdrawn by the Himachal Pradesh government.
