Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy presided over the review meetings of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) in Chandigarh today. In his presidential address, Shri Piyush Goyal called upon the managements of both the public sector bodies to increase their efficiency and their capacity to the highest level and appealed the state governments of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh to forget and sink their differences for the overall development of the people of the region. The Minister said that a joint meeting of Chief Ministers of all these four states will be held shortly at Chandigarh to sort out the long pending issues, for the benefit of the people of these states.
He also directed BBMB Chairman to submit an action plan to him within a month for constituting some rapid action force for approval to strengthen the public warning system to avoid accidents by immediate release of water from dams. It will be adopted for every hydro plant in the country in a time bound manner. Union Minister directed that his instructions to start E-Bidding process be followed in letter and spirit.
Shri Piyush Goyal also directed the BBMB to make an inventory of all its assets, including its unused vacant land within 6 months.
Shri SK Sharma, Chairman BBMB and Shri KM Singh, Chairman cum Managing Director NHPC, briefed the Union Minister on their activities and performance. It was informed in the meeting that 17 government to government cases are pending in different courts, regarding water sharing and related issues. Senior officers of Union Ministries of Power and Water Resources, Concerned senior officers from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, senior officers of BBMB and NHPC attended the review meetings.
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