Central body disputes Bihar stand, says Farakka barrage not to blame for Ganga silt
The Ganga Flood Control Commission stated on Sunday that the siltation in the river was caused mainly by illegal plantation on its bed, rather than the Farakka barrage, as claimed by the Bihar government.
A union government agency, on Sunday, disputed the oft-repeated stand of the Nitish Kumar government, that the construction of the Farakka barrage in west Bengal was to blame for heavy siltation in the Ganga river which caused flooding in Bihar every year.
The Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC), a subordinate office of the union ministry of water resources, made it clear on Sunday that the Farakka barrage was not the reason for heavy siltation of the Ganga in Bihar.
GFCC chairman Arun Kumar Sinha said the impact of the barrage on the river was only up to 46 km in the upstream, whereas the distance of Patna from Farakka was around 400 km. In this context, he cited the findings of the Central Water Commission (CWC), which conducted a hydrology study on the Ganga, from Bhimgoda in Uttarakhand to Farakka, last year,
Inaugurating an international seminar on ‘Floods and water resources management in the eastern region of the Indian sub-continent’ here, Sinha said unbridled encroachment on the bed of the Ganga was a major reason for siltation in the river. “Illegal plantation on the river bed is causing silt deposition in the Ganga,” he added.
He claimed that the construction of a high dame on the Sapta Kosi in Nepal would address the problem of floods in the state.
Water experts from India, Nepal and Bangladesh participated in the day long seminar.
A majority of the participants held the view that construction of a series of dams on the rivers originating in Nepal would control silt, create irrigation potential, generate immense hydel power and solve the perennial problem of floods in Bihar. The conference was organised by the Indian Engineers’ Association (IEA).
Well known water expert T Prasad highlighted his view that the floods could be tamed through engineering science and could be made useful for public utility.
National council member of IEA Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh argued that floods could be contained through effective water management.
Participating in the discussion, chairman of the Indian Water Resources Society, Patna chapter, Santosh Kumar, hoped that the seminar would provide a viable solution to flood problem and show ways for effective management of water resources.
The other prominent speakers at the seminar included Shamsher Ali from Bangladesh and Rameshwar Yadav from Nepal. Other experts who spoke at the meet included Madan Mohan Kumar, Amrendra Kumar singh and Suresh Sharma.
Earlier this month, the Bihar government had organised a seminar in New Delhi, wherein it maintained that sedimentation, primarily caused by the Farakka barrage, was a colossal impediment to incessant flow of the Ganga.