Himachal to take up Pong Dam oustees' issue with Rajasthan

Nagrota Surian (Himachal Pradesh), Feb 17 (IANS) Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Tuesday said the state was always considerate towards the demand of the Pong Dam oustees and had always taken initiatives to re-locate them.

Addressing a public meeting in Nagrota Surian in Kangra district, he said the Rajasthan government, one of the beneficiary states, was not serious about resolving the vexed issue and had shown its inability in allocating land to the Pong Dam oustees.

He said the state would take up the matter with the Rajasthan government again.

He also said that these people were rehabilitated in Rajasthan in such places which were not worth living but were desert.

The Rajasthan government was now not in a mood to have a re-look at the issue as 17 meetings of the high-powered committee were held and nothing concrete had come out of them which showed lack of positive approach on the part of Rajasthan to adhere to the tripartite agreement, the chief minister said.

"The oustees were given plots in areas where there was no water. The Rajasthan government never gave them the justice they deserved," he said.

The Pong dam reservoir was built on the Beas river in 1975 and is spread over 41 km with a maximum width of 19 km.

Pong dam, located 250 km from the state capital along the Punjab border, meets the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.