Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement made before the 2014 Lok Sabha poll in Varanasi that he had come there on the invitation of (river) Ganga mata, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said “Ganga maiya” now has been asking where was her son.
Mr Kumar also said the condition of the river had become so deplorable that “he gets emotional over it.”
“When I visited Varanasi recently people there were saying river Ganga has been asking for her son who earlier had declared that he had come there only on the invitation of Ganga mata…why he (PM Modi) has stopped saying so…the condition of river Ganga has become so deplorable that I get emotional seeing it,” the Chief Minister said while addressing an international conference on “Incessant Ganga” here.
“Close Farraka”
Mr Kumar said he had demanded the closure of the Farakka barrage in West Bengal “as it has been the root cause of siltation causing floods every year in Bihar.”
“Several river experts have expressed a similar opinion but nothing has been done yet,” he said.
“It is because of the Farakka barrage that Bihar gets flooded every year…there is a danger to Bihar due to the barrage,” Magsaysay award winner and water conservationist Rajendra Singh said.
He said the Central government project of Namami Gange has been benefiting only contractors.
Another river expert and economist, Bharat Jhunjhunwala, said the Central government raises the issue of cows but not of Ganga.
Problem of silt deposit
Bihar Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the conference would discuss in detail the problem of siltation in the river bed.
The experts and delegates would look into all aspects of human intervention, including the proposed construction of barrage for inland waterways, which have resulted in the deterioration of the Ganga, an official of the state Water Resource Department said.
