Chief Minister opens flood alert centre in city

PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday inaugurated a Mathematical Modelling Centre of the water resource department (WRD) at Aneesabad in Patna, which will issue alerts regarding floods in the Kosi and Bagmati 72 hours in advance.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM regretted the Centre had not yet paid required attention to the government's plea for de-siltation of the Ganga.

"Despite submission of reports and favourable opinion of experts, the Centre has not paid attention to the problem of siltation along the 140km upstream Ganga from Farakka barrage in West Bengal," Nitish said.

He said the Centre formed a committee to assess the problem of siltation and Union minister of inland waterways Nitin Gadakri also spoke with him recently. A central team made a presentation on the feasibility of inland waterways through the Ganga at a meeting recently held at Patna, the CM said.

"However, they used old data. The new data shows that siltation has occurred on a large scale between Buxar and Bhagalpur due to the Farakka barrage. The volume of water coming into the Ganga from upstream has also reduced," the CM said.

He said the newly opened mathematical centre would also collect and compare old and new data on siltation of the Ganga. "Such centres will also be established for other rivers like the Gandak and Mahananda," he said.

The centre at Aneesabad, established with loan from the World Bank, is equipped with sophisticated gadgets for isuing flood alerts.

Speaking on the occasion, WRD minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said a Physical Modelling Centre, another component of high-tech flood management system, would be established at Birpur in Supaul by the end of November this year. Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav and WRD principal secretary Arun Kumar Singh also spoke.