Haridwar: Farmers are a priority for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath while butchers were a priority for his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav, an UP minister has said.
Accusing the Akhilesh Yadav government of doing nothing for farmers, Uttar Pradesh irrigation minister Dharmapal Singh said on Sunday that it only worked to safeguard the interests of butchers by not shutting down abattoirs being run illegally. “Farmers are a priority for the Yogi government while butchers were the sole priority of the previous government,” Singh said after holding discussions on transfer of irrigation assets between UP and Uttarakhand with state irrigation department officials.
Describing the two states as brothers, he said the transfer of assets between them, an issue which has remained unresolved ever since Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, was going to be a smooth affair. With UP giving 37 canals to Uttarakhand and the latter transferring 8 to UP recently, the matter is almost sorted out and if there are issues they will be settled amicably, Singh said. He added that there is willingness on part of governments of both states to settle pending issues between them amicably and fast. He also said that steps are being taken to ensure that industrial waste is not released into the river and its banks are kept free from all sorts of encroachment.