Bihar government attacks previous Deve Godwa government

Patna, Mar 10 (UNI) The Bihar government today accused the previous H D Deve Gowda government of signing an agreement with Bangladesh on division of water of Ganga river without seeking the state's views on the issue.

Replying to a debate on the budgetary demands of his department worth Rs 1295.03 crore, state Water Resources minister Ramashryaya Prasad Singh said the state had suffered due to the agreement with Bangladesh.

''Agreement with Bangladesh was the brain child of Mr Deve Godwa and the then state government was denied a chance to make suggestions on the matter,'' he said.

Mr Singh said a state water policy would be announced this month to ensure proper water management, creating more irrigation facilities and also dealing with the problems of flood and drought.

He said the plan size of his department had been raised by 20 per cent to Rs 856.85 crore.

The flood information management system had been made with the support of the World Bank aided Satellite Imagery and other latest technologies for keeping a watch on the catchment areas from Burhi Gandak river to Koshi river.

The Water Resource minister said help of remote sensing centre based at Patnas planetorium would be taken for dealing with the problem of floods in the state, adding all four command area development authorities would be revived for developing draining system.

The minister said the government was committed to strenthen roads constructed on embankments. He said special emphasis would be made on improving condition of ''Zamindari dams'' (private dams).

Later, the house passed the budgetary demands of the water irrigation department by rejecting the cut motion of the RJD member Jagtanand Singh.

UNI DH SP VD HS1944