Multiplicity of
authority and delay by bureaucrats at the Centre have hindering repair
work of the embankment on the Kosi river which has already caused
losses worth Rs 50,000 crore in five districts of Bihar, the Special
Task Force on Bihar, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said.
Task Force chairman SC Jha also criticised the bureaucrats in the Union
water resources and finance ministries.
Jha says though work on embankment should have started, technical
experts from the Ministry of Water Resources are more interested in
discussions rather than arriving at a conclusion.
Jha said he had asked an official of the Ganga Flood Commission to
visit Nepal and take the help of the government there. Though he went
there after taking permission from the Central Water Comission, the
water resources ministry asked him to explain why he had gone to Nepal,
Jha added.
Jha said he would covey his concerns to the prime minister soon to deal
with the situation in the flood-ravaged state.
He said it would cost at least Rs 50,000 crore to rebuild the five
affected districts as the Kosi fury was worse than Tsunami, which had
occurred in December 2004, as it has brought to nought all the
infrastructure in health, education and railways in the five districts.
The Task Force official has held talks with the Reserve Bank of India,
State Bank of India and several other banks to facilitate low-interest
loans for the flood-affected people.
He said donors and foreign funds should be welcomed for repairing the
embankment of the river as the government would not be able to raise
such a huge amount. In fact, World Bank and Asian Development Bank have
been approached to offer assistance but there has not been any response
from the finance ministry in this regard, Jha added.
He, however, praised the Bihar government for the relief work but
blamed both the Centre and the state government for the breach of the
embankment last month that had forced the river to change its course
and sweep five districts.
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