Thursday, March 31, 2011

Stop passing the buck on Yamuna: Ramesh to States (Indian Express 24 March 2011)

Stop passing the buck on Yamuna once and for all, an angry Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today told Delhi and Haryana Governments and directed them to take steps to clean the river, which is full of filth and waste.
"Delhi and Haryana... I want once and for all passing the buck on Yamuna to stop. One day in morning Haryana is blaming Delhi and next day Delhi is blaming Haryana. ...But we must do something on Yamuna. Money is not the problem," Ramesh said after dedicating National Ambient Noise Monitoring Network to the nation here.

He said he has convened a meeting of Chief Ministers of both Delhi and Haryana on Sunday to discuss the issue and hoped that a consensus will be evolved about the steps to be taken to stop polluting Yamuna.

"Both the Chief Ministers are coming on Sunday. We will sit down and I hope once and for all, we will have clarity on what steps have to be taken by Haryana and what steps have to be taken by Delhi," Ramesh told the function attended by top pollution control board officials of both the states.

The Minister said the Central Pollution Control Board officials, who had done a field visit, have identified what are the steps Haryana has to take and what are the steps Delhi has to take to stop polluting Yamuna.

"They have done all home work. Now responsibility is up to you and I have told CMs, money is not the problem.

Because we can get money under the environmental remediation window that has been set up as part of the budget," the minister said.

Voicing concern over the pollution in Yamuna, Ramesh on Monday had said that there is "no water" in the river and all we see is waste dumped by the industrial units of Haryana and Delhi.

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