‘Farakka Dam’ responsible for spate in river Ganga: Nitish

Patna, Aug 21 (PTI) Amid apprehensions of flood watersentering into Patna town, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumartoday said silt deposited in Ganga after the construction ofFarraka Dam was responsible for spate in the river and askedthe Centre to remove the dam or come out with a ‘SiltManagement Policy’. "The current flood situation has been caused by siltationof river Ganga. This situation is the result of silt gettingdeposited in Ganga after construction of Farakka dam. The onlyway to remove silt from the river is to remove the dam," Kumartold reporters after the review meeting on flood situationhere. If the central government has any other option (other thanremoving the dam), then it should start working on it, headded. In his Independence day address too, Kumar had raised theissue saying that the depth of river Ganga had reducedfollowing the silt deposition in the river due to constructionof dam at Farakka. Stressing that Ganga has become shallow due to siltation,Kumar said "I have consistently been raising this issue forthe past 10 years. I had raised the issue when Manmohan Singhwas the Prime Minister and now I am raising it before theNarendra Modi government." Due to siltation in the river, the depth of Ganga riverhas reduced and water spreads to the adjoining areas in theevent of rise in the water level, he said. "I appeal to the Government of India to prepare a policyon silt management. The central government should consider itafter taking stock of the situation…It should come out withthe mechanism or wayout to prevent silt getting deposited inthe river Ganga, otherwise it could prove to be a terriblesituation in years to come," Kumar said. PTI AR SUSSMJ