Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 5: State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah at Civil Secretariat Srinagar this evening, deferred decision on report of Special High Powered Committee (SHPC) on Amarnath Yatra while as it accorded approval to the establishment of first ever State Water Resources Regulatory Authority with former Chief Secretary, S S Kapur as its Chairperson.
Sources told EXCELSIOR that after going through the wider contours of the voluminous report of Special High Powered Committee on Amarnath Yatra along with the comments received from various departments, it was decided to defer the decision for some days in order to facilitate all the Cabinet Ministers to deeply analyze each and every aspect of the report.
“Some Ministers wanted to have closer look on all the points mentioned in the report and the comments of different departments because of the issue being very sensitive”, sources said, adding “they also pointed out that since agenda was circulated only yesterday evening they could not deeply analyze the report”.
Since the Supreme Court has given the time till October 11, 2012 to the State Government to file response to its order dated September 17, 2012, it was decided in the Cabinet that the Ministers would complete the examination of report by October 10 when the matter would be again placed before the Cabinet for final decision, sources disclosed.
The Special High Powered Committee came into being after Supreme Court took serious note of reports regarding the mortality of pilgrims visiting Shri Amarnathji Shrine during the annual pilgrimage this year. The Committee submitted its report before the Apex Court on September 7, 2012 and after going through the same the Supreme Court issued directions for inviting comments from various departments within a period of two weeks.
Accordingly, Health and Medical Education, PHE, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Power Development, Forest, Tourism and Culture Departments furnished response to the report of Special High-Powered Committee and today the report as well as comments of departments were placed before the Cabinet.
The Cabinet accorded approval to the establishment of State Water Resources Regulatory Authority in terms of Section 139 of the J&K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010 with former Chief Secretary, S S Kapur as its Chairperson and V K Abrol, former Chief Engineer PHE and Consultant to Ministry of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control and Abdul Rashid Tak, former Executive Director of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation as its Members.
The Cabinet directed the Selection Committee headed by Chief Secretary to recommend the name for one more member with hydraulic background and experience of having worked in Jehlum Basin.
The Authority will determine the entitlement and distribution for various categories of use of water within each category and the terms and conditions of distribution or allocation.
It will regulate use of water by the users and licensees from all water sources in the State, adjudicate upon the disputes between the licensees and the department, advise the Government in the promotion of competition for the optimum utilization of water resources in the State, administer and manage inter-state water resources apportionment on river systems of the State, approve and review water resources schemes and projects, establish a system of enforcement, monitoring and measurement of use of water both in quantity and type of use.
It will also establish a regulatory system for the water resources of the State including surface and sub-surface waters and promote efficient use of water to minimize the wastage of same.
The Cabinet also cleared introduction of Jammu and Kashmir Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012 and the Jammu and Kashmir Hindu Marriages Rules, 2012 in the ongoing session of State legislature.
It also approved creation of court of Additional District and Sessions Judge at Handwara, re-employment of Dr Mohammad Amin Wani, retired Director Health Services, Kashmir, as Superintendent, Super Specialty Hospital, Srinagar for a period of one year, improvement and up-gradation of Ramnagar-Dudu Road up to Latti in Udhampur district approved by Special Task Force, Jammu at an estimated cost of Rs 34.60 crore.
The Cabinet also accorded approval to the creation of staff for newly upgraded Middle Schools to the level of High Schools under Rashtriya Madhymik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RAMSA) and creation of staff for the maintenance of Education Satellite (EDUSAT) hubs located at Srinagar and Jammu.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel