Nitish sceptic of success of Centre’s Jal Marg Vikas Project
Patna,(BiharTimes): Chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday that the Narendra Modi govermmemt’s ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) would not succeed unless and until projects are prepared with a comprehensive outlook keeping in mind the issue of siltation and non-stop decrease in functional width of the river.
He urged the Centre to give a serious look to the grave issue of siltation in the Ganga before finalising projects for the National Waterways-1 (Haldia to Allahabad) under the JMVP.
Expressing his view on the JMVP after a team of senior officials from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), New Delhi, made a detailed presentation before him on the NW-1 the chief minister said as far as the Ganga is concerned, special emphasis will have to be given on maintaining its unhindered flow and proper management of silts. If the Centre does not think over this serious issue of silt deposits, the unhindered and uninterrupted flow of water would stop in coming days.
The chief minister said the functional width of the river in Bihar was decreasing due to regular silt deposit in its bed, apparently because of Farakka Barrage.
The IWAI team, which was led by its chairperson and senior IAS officer Nutan Guha Biswas, was later taken for an aerial survey from Buxar to Farakka to study the present status of the river.
State water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, IWAI vice-chairman Pravir Pandey and several other officials were present during the presentation.
