Authorities pass buck over Manjha ban issue

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Authorities today continued topass the buck over the manja ban issue with the Delhigovernment accusing the Lt Governor and Environment Secretaryof causing delay in issuing draft notification even as the LGquestioned the assertions. Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has sought an explanation fromEnvironment Secretary Chandraker Bharti after Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia wrote to him seeking action againstthe officer for the delay in issuing the draft notificationbanning the sale and production of glass-coated thread in thenational capital. Addressing a press conference with Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal here, Sisodia alleged that file tracking note showsthat the Chinese manja file was with Jung for four days andthe Environment Secretary for seven days. However, the LG office issued a statement asserting thatit had received the file from the government on August 8 andsent it back to Deputy CM’s office on August 9. It questionedthe draft notification, saying it would not have served itspurpose as rules require inviting suggestions from publicbefore issuing the final notification after 60 days. AAP government, however, insists that it had ordered aban on Chinese kite strings with immediate effect in the draftnotification itself. The Deputy CM claimed that in view of the notification’simportance, the file on Chinese manja was cleared byEnvironment Minister Imran Hussain, his office and ChiefSecretary’s office within seconds "Our Environment Minister had cleared the file from thehospital on August 5 as he and his wife were diagnosed withdengue and thereafter my office and CS office cleared the filewithin a few seconds and sent it to the LG office. "On August 9, LG gave his nod, but file was withenvironment secretary for seven days," the Deputy ChiefMinister said. In the statement, the LG office said, "It is clarifiedthat the said file was received in the Lt. Governor’s officeon 8.8.2016 (Monday) vide Diary No.25849 and after dueapproval, it was sent back on 9.8.2016 (Tuesday) to the Officeof the Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister." More PTI BUN AAR SKAAR