Bihar plans to construct more barrages on rivers to mitigate flood problem

Patna: The Bihar government is planning to construct barrages on several rivers in six districts in the northern part of the state bordering Nepal to mitigate the recurring flood problem, Water Resources Department Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said.

The proposed barrages will be built on the Gandak, Masan, Kamala, Kosi and Mahananda rivers.

“The Bihar government has started the process of finalising DPRs pertaining to the construction of more barrages in East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Kishanganj, Madhubani and Supaul districts as part of its flood mitigation measures,” Chaudhary said.

The NDA government at the Centre recently announced financial support of Rs 11,500 crore for Bihar to deal with flood-related issues that are an annual phenomenon for the state, he said.

The DPRs are being finalised for the construction of barrages on Gandak at Areraj in East Champaran, on Masan in West Champaran, Bagmati at Dheng in Sitamarhi, on Kamala at Jainagar in Madhubani, on Kosi at Dakmara in Supaul and on Mahananda at Taiyabpur in Kishanganj, said the minister.

“The Kosi-Mechi inter-linking project, entailing an expenditure of Rs. 6,282.32 crore, will also be completed with the assistance of the Centre. This project aims to provide irrigation to a large number of people in the Seemanchal,” Chaudhari said.

The state government’s plans of inter-linking of Kamala-Purani Kamala-Bagmati rivers and Burhi Gandak-None-Baya-Ganga rivers will also get a boost from the Centre’s flood mitigation projects for Bihar, he added.

The minister said the state government has been asking the Centre to manage floods by rivers originating from Nepal.

“It was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government when India and Nepal agreed to build high-level dams on river Kosi, Bagmati and Kamala in Nepal and set up a joint project office at Biratnagar (in that country) to prepare the related DPRs in 2004," he said.

However, the DPRs could never see the light of the day due to certain issues related to Nepal, the minister said.

"Later, the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar ji decided to finalise the projects within the state’s territorial jurisdiction,” the minister said.

The state government has taken several measures to rejuvenate and revive dying rivers, he said adding that this has to be done in a coordinated manner by the Centre as well as other states.

"Heavy silt deposit slows down the water flow, posing a big challenge to the existence of certain rivers. The Centre should formulate the national silt management policy at the earliest”, the minister said.