As flood continues to wreak havoc across 12 districts of Bihar, a BJP MLA from Baikunthpur in Gopalganj area has targeted the Nitish Kumar government and blamed the water resource department for corruption and poor work after river Gandak breached embankment last week, causing widespread flooding in the state. The accusations from partner ally has increased the troubles for CM Nitish Kumar who is already facing sharp criticisms as lives of more than 24 lakh people are in danger due to floods.
BJP MLA Mithilesh Tiwari on Tuesday raised serious questions on the quality of work being done by the water resource department at the embankments. “I have been raking up the issue and even writing to the water resource department. I even brought the matter to the notice of the concerned and even raised it in the Assembly but no one paid any heed. There should be thorough investigation on this issue and the guilty must be punished,” he said.
Tiwari also added that the quality of work was poor and therefore such breach occurred. The statement coming from the alliance partner is uncomforting for the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the party is trying to refrain from directly responding to the allegations of Tiwari. Talking to the daily Guardian JD-U spokesperson Rajeeva Ranjan said, “There are clear cut instructions from the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to monitor all the embankments round the clock and stockpile the essential material so that it may be rushed to the place where needed. The government is well aware of the gravity of the situation so all measures are being put in place.” He however refrained himself from responding to the allegations made by the BJP MLA.
Bihar is all set to go into polls later this year and this row has given the opposition the desired ammunition to nail down Nitish Kumar yet again. The opposition too has been raising the issue of rampant corruption in maintenance of the embankments and construction of bridges in the state.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal said that the fact that even the BJP MLA has now come forward to speak about corruption spoke volumes about the rampant corruption in the department. “So called ‘sushashan’ and ‘vikas’ got washed away in the devastating current of Nitish Kumar government’s rampant corruption. The double engine government should answer why bridges got washed away in less than a month of inauguration,” RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari told The Daily Guardian.