Speed Post News Network
Bhagalpur : Bihar government on September 19, 2017, suffered a major embarrassment when the wall of Rs 389.31 crore dam at Bateshwarsthan, Kahalgaon, in Bhagalpur collapsed during trial run a day ahead before its inauguration by CM Nitish Kumar. The adjoining areas were inundated after the collapse of the dam. Obviously, the inauguration programme was cancelled.
The Planning Commission had given its approval to the project in 1977 at an estimated cost of about Rs 14 crore. But, it got first administrative approval in 2008 only at a cost of Rs 389.31 crore. The Bateshwarsthan dam is part of Gateshwar Pump Canal Project, a joint project of Bihar and Jharkhand. The project will irrigate 22,816 hectare in Bihar and 4,887 hectare in Godda in Jharkhand.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav said that the collapse of the dam speaks volume of corruption in its construction. The RJD workers burnt effigies of CM NItish Kumar and Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh at BHagalpur to protest collapse of the dam.