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Bagaha: Water resources department (WRD) minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias LallanSingh along with principal secretary Arun Kumar Singh inspected Pipara -Piparasi (PP) Gandak right embankment on Bihar and Uttar pradesh border ànd Gandak barrage, on Indo-Nepal border, to take stock of flood situation in West Champaran district on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The WRD minister inspected vulnerable points of the PP embankment on Saturday and met state public representatives including Kailashnath Baitha, Bagaha unit JD(U) president, and Dhirendra Pratap Singh, an Independent MLA from Valmikinagar, and listened to their and suggestions. The minister directed the engineers and contractors to protect Dulari retire line of PP embankment at any cost failing which stern action would be aken against them.
The minister on Sunday inspected Gandak barrage, the shutter number 33 of which was damaged due to pressure of water recently. the Gandak barrage has 36 gates. After reviewing the flood situation with water resources department officials and engineers at Valmikinagar Gandak guest house, the minister told to the mediapersons whatever damage was done, it was due to lack of maintenance of Gandak barrage by engineers deployed there. It was evident from reports submitted by Chief Engineer, flood control, Muzafferpur, DK Chaudhary. Chief engineer (mechanical) Tejnarain Ram and District Magistrate, West Champaran, Lokesh Kumar Singh. On the basis of their reports, eight persons including superintending engineer (officiating), Valmikinagar, Arjun kumar, Executive engineers Gandak barrage Ram Vinay Sharma, assistant engineer, Subodh Kumar Sharma, Ranjan Kumar, junior engineer, have been suspended while a contractor of Patna,who was awarded maintenance work of the Barrage, has been blacklisted, he said.
The WRD ministr said that CCTV and display board of water discharge would be installed at the Gandak barrage. The engineers doing good work would be rewarded, he said adding due to dereliction of duty five engineers of flood control including executive engineer had been suspended recently after breach in left Gandak embankment at Ratanmala. Meanwhile, a delegation of JD (U) workers led by Bagaha unit president Kailash Baitha, ex-MP, met the minister at Valmikinagar and urged him to build Chhathiya ghat sluice bridge connecting Chhataraul and Ratwal. DM, West Champaran, Lokesh kumar Singh ,SDM Bagaha Dharmendra Kumar, Bagaha SP Anand Kumar and other officials were resent on the occasion. It was WRD minister’s second visit to the area within 50 days.