Haryana committed to securing its water share: Governor (The Hindu 05 March 2011)

New Session: Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia along with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda arrives at the State Assembly in Chandigarh on Friday.
CHANDIGARH: In a significant statement, Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia on Friday affirmed that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime would make renewed efforts to secure Haryana's legitimate share of water from Ravi-Beas rivers.
Delivering the Governor's Address on the opening day of the Budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha here, he said the State Government was committed to getting its due share.
Appreciating that the State Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) was expected to grow at nine per cent during 2010-11 and per capita income at 7.2 per cent, he said the revenue receipts were expected to grow at 23.7 per cent in 2010-11 as against 13.8 per cent in 2009-10.
He said a well-defined Public Private Partnership policy had been formulated for development of physical and social infrastructure. The State's economy was showing distinct signs of resurgence leaving behind the financial stress of previous years.
Calling for a second “Green Revolution”, he said a ‘Kisan Aayog' (Farmers' Commission) had been set up to assess the current status of agriculture and suggest measures to enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability of the major farming systems.
He said enabling legislation for setting up a Gau Seva Aayog (Cow Commission) had already been passed.
It would be ensured that the landowner does not feel cheated when his or her land is eventually acquired. Mortgaged surplus land of farmers was being released on the basis of present realistic valuation of the land.
Complimenting the government for effective and efficient handling of the floods in 2010, he said crops on 5.08 lakh acres were damaged and farmers were given relief of Rs.257.60 crore for damage to their crops.
He said the NCR water supply channel for augmenting drinking water supply to Gurgaon and industrial townships of Manesar, Bahadurgarh, Sampla and Badli was expected to be completed by this April. The Kaushlaya Dam is likely to be functional during 2011-12.
Mr. Pahadia disclosed that pre-project activities had been initiated by the Nuclear Power Corporation for setting up of a nuclear power plant of two units of 700 MW each at village Gorakhpur in district Fatehabad.
The Governor said that as per Sample Resource Survey 2009 of the Union Government, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) had declined to 51 compared with 54 in 2008. According to Health Department data, Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) had declined to 137 as in November 2010 compared with 164 in 2009-10. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) had also fallen to 2.5 compared to 3.0 in 2004.