New Delhi: A tripartite meeting convened by the Centre to resolve disputes between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments over release of water from Bansagar dam on Thursday failed to make headway as several outstanding issues could not be sorted out.
While Chief Ministers of both the states kept away from the meeting, Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav met Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti here and sought directions to Madhya Pradesh for releasing water from the dam immediately.
However, Water Resources Ministry officials from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh held a meeting with the Union Water Resources Secretary here, sources said.
"The inter-ministerial (of the two states) meeting could not take place as several outstanding issues needs to be sorted out first. So, the meeting between the ministers may take place after such issues are resolved at the official level," an official said.
Yadav, who met Bharti, sought directions to Madhya Pradesh government to immediately release 2000 cusecs of water from Bansagar dam for two months into Sone river against the due share of Uttar Pradesh.
The Union Water Resources Minister "promised" to look into the matter, a statement issued after the meeting said.
The dam is located in Madhya Pradesh and controlled by Bansagar Control Board which is a subordinate office of the Union Water Resources Ministry.
Bharti had called the meeting of the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to discuss the issue of supply of water to UP from Bansagar dam, after the UP government wrote to the Central Water Commission seeking that directions be issued to Madhya Pradesh to release 2,000 cusecs of water from Bansagar Dam.
Due to severe heat and scarcity of rains, an acute crisis of drinking water and irrigation has arisen in the districts of Sonbhadra and Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh government, the state government had said in its communication.
