“It’s not as if the Gangetic stretch has received more water than before, but excessive siltation means the river is flowing on a much higher bed and so is the water”, Kumar added. Highlighting the bad effects of Farakka barrage, Nitish said Ganga has turned out as “shallow” river in major parts of Bihar due to huge deposition of silts, year-by-year, after the construction of the barrage. They had gone for fishing in the river but suddenly the water level in the river rose.
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“It is not possible to protect Bihar from devastating floods without removal of Farakka barrage on the Ganga river”, Nitish Kumar told the media here before going for an aerial survey of the flood-affected six districts – including Patna, where the situation has worsened due to rising water level in the Ganga and its tributaries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the situation in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and promised the Centre’s support for rescue and relief operations. “Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these states”, the force said. The NDRF put together an emergency operation with 56 rescue and relief teams and had two Deputy Inspector General-rank officers in Bihar and UP monitoring the situation.
“Who benefitted from Farakka dam, only Centre would be knowing”, he said. “I spoke to the Bihar Chief Secretary”, Shashi Shekhar, Secretary, Water Resources Ministry said. I have time and again been demanding re-assessment of advantages and disadvantages of Farakka barrage.
According to an estimate, more than 10 lakh people have been affected and over 2 lakh have lost their homes in flood, which according to experts have broken the records of 1994.
The absence of rainfall in past 24 hours led to rise in temperature by few notches in cities including Patna which witnessed hot and humid conditions, the weatherman said. However it has been controversial, with complaints that it is choking up the river’s natural flow and affecting aquatic life.
Nitish Kumar said silt management is the right answer to the problem.
“At some places, flood victims blocked roads to protest against inadequate relief”, an official of disaster management department said.
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Similar protests by flood-affected communities in Nathnagar of Bhagalpur and Begusarai, Saran and Bakhtiyarpur were reported, over lack of government aid and relief. Vast areas in several villages of Malda district in West Bengal have submerged, affecting a population of almost 20,000, even as heavy to very heavy rain in districts of southern parts and in the Sub-Himalayan region are predicted for Monday, triggered by a low pressure.
