Patna September 20 Rs. 389-crore dam that was finally inaugurated by Nitish Kumar after a 40-year delay washed away hours before its grand inauguration when pump was switched on for a trial.
According to NDTV report, a portion of Rs. 389-crore dam in Bihar crashed during a trial run and left parts of a town in Bhagalpur flooded. The Chief Minister was forced to cancel the inauguration today of the Ganga canal project that was completed after a 40-year delay.
According to the report, last evening, Mr Kumar’s office cited “technical reasons” for dropping the launch of the Bateshwarsthan Ganga Pump Canal Project, which has been set up to irrigate land in Bihar and neighbouring Jharkhand. Ads in newspapers had announced that Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan would also be present at the event.
The Indian Express has reported that the 60-km Bateshwar Sthan pump canal project, originating from Ganga at Kahalgaon, is meant to irrigate 21,700 hectare in Bihar and 4,000 hectare in Jharkhand.
The Rs 389 crore project, which was started in 1977 with a cost of Rs 13.88 cr, had been a story of neglect by successive governments. The project cost was revised several times and finally it was ready with the government deciding to install 12 high-capacity water pumps. If started simultaneously, these 12 pumps can release 260 cusecs of water per second into the canal.
The opposition leader and former deputy Chief Minister tweeted yester evening “Dam of Rs. 389 crores crashed 24 hours before inauguration. CM was about to inaugurate with show and pomp. One more dam sacrificed due to corruption.”
