Lok Sabha proceedings come to a halt five minutes before scheduled end of day due to lack of quorum

New Delhi: Within a fortnight of the convening of the 17th Lok Sabha, the business of the house on Friday collapsed due to lack of quorum minutes before it was scheduled to end. The issue of quorum was raised by AAP member during a discussion on a private member resolution regarding water scarcity and Ken-Betwa river-linking project. [caption id=“attachment_4239027” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Bhagwant Mann. Courtesy: News18[/caption] Mann raised the issue of quorum around 5:45 pm when Jagdambika Pal (BJP) was speaking on the resolution. Raising the quorum issue, Mann said he was also objecting to the absence of opposition members in the House and lesser numbers on the treasury benches. The presence of at least 10 per cent of the total strength of House or about 55 members constitutes the quorum. Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, halted the proceedings of the House and ordered ringing of the quorum bell. Following this, some MPs came to the House but not in enough numbers to complete the quorum compelling the chair to adjourn the house around five minutes ahead of the scheduled time of six pm. The discussion on the resolution moved by Pushpendra Singh Chandel will continue next week. Earlier participating in the discussion, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (BJP) said farmers of Bundelkhand are forced to leave farming and migrate to cities for work due to a shortage of water. Due to lack of irrigation facility, farmers are unable to do farming despite having their own land. The government should also initiate steps for replenishing dams to overcome the problems of water scarcity and practise of ‘Anna Pratha’ in the region, he said. ‘Anna Pratha’ refers to the practice of farmers freeing their cows to graze in open fields in times of scarcity of water and fodder, he said. Adhir Rajan Chowdhury (Congress) said the government should come out with a comprehensive plan to deal with water shortage which has aggravated in the last few decades. He also suggested that the government think of an alternative to deal with the rising number of stray cattle destroying crops. With regard to inter-linking of the river, he said, the intention is noble but difficult to implement as there is acrimony between states over the issue. The government should find ways to deal with the differences among states over the issue and also examine ecological imbalance that it may create, he said. There are examples where the linking of rivers have failed, he said.