Fishing feud

The Uttaranchal High Court has declared illegal an Uttar Pradesh (UP) government advertisement proclaiming its right to conduct fishing auctions in six waterbodies in the hill state's Udham Singh Nagar district. The area became a bone of contention between the two states when Uttaranchal was being carved out of UP.

Of the six waterbodies, five lie in Uttaranchal's territory and the sixth along its contiguous border with UP. While suggesting that the two states carry out joint auctions and share the revenue, the court ruled that Uttaranchal would have rights over five waterbodies and UP over the sixth. It also directed the Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Corporation to return to its counterpart in Uttaranchal, within three months, the money that had been earned from the fishing auctions.