Nitish assures PM of timely completion of central govt schemes

New Delhi, Sep 16: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating and laying stones of seven urban infrastructure schemes worth Rs 541 crore and assured him that the state government would complete all the projects on time.

Besides, it would also expedite other central government schemes being implemented under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and other programmes in the state, Kumar said.

Prime Minister inaugurated two sewage treatment plants (STP)- one each at Beur and Karmalichak in Patna- which would treat the water before releasing them in river Ganga to help prevent the river getting polluted.

Modi also inaugurated water supply schemes for Chapra and Siwan town where 81,000 an 58,000 people will be benefited from the water supply under AMRUT Mission.

Besides, foundation stones were laid for two water supply schemes- one each for Munger and Jamalpur (in Munger).

PM also laid stone for Muzaffarpur Riverfront Development Scheme, being built under Namami Gange.

Prominent among those who graced the occasion included- Governor Phagu Chauhan, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and a host of other MPs, MLAs who were digitally connected from different places.

Speaking on the occasion, Kumar said that STPs being built under Namami Gange project are necessary in order to protect rivers especially Ganga from getting polluted.

"Its not a small thing. Drainage water is treated before releasing them into the river. Its a big thing. Today, two STPs- one each at Beur and Karmalichak are being inaugurated by the PM who laid the stones for these STPs on October 14, 2017," Kumar said.

The treated water will be released in the rivers once all STPs become functional in the state, he added.

Kumar reminiscenced his college and childhood days while talking about Ganga and said "I was born at Bakhtiarpur in Patna district. We used to go to take bath in the Ganga on Sunday when schools were closed.

"There was wonderful flow of clean water then. We used to take a bucket of water to home for drinking purposes. But, slowly and gradually the situation in terms of pollution in Ganga worsened with the time and increase in population.

Stating that the water should be utilised and not misutilised, the CM said that people are using drinking water being made available to them under Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal scheme for bathing their buffalos and irrigation purpose after which he had to ask them publicly not to misuse water meant for drinking.

Under the scheme pure drinking water is being provided to all households in Bihar.

Since the Prime Minister had mentioned about the scheme Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal on September 10 while inaugurating Rs 294 crore relating to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in Bihar, Kumar said, "80 per cent of the work under the scheme has been completed and the remaining work will be finished by the end of October this year."

"We (state government) are getting all types of support from you (the central government) in every field," Kumar told the PM.

Praising the river development scheme, Kumar said that this is a good scheme for which a foundation stone has been laid by the PM for developing the ghats along Burhi Gandak river in Muzaffarpur as it would attract people to visit the river side.

Kumar recalled his engineering college days when he used to sit on the banks of Ganga as the college was situated along the river.

People are much more aware now with regard to environment which is evident from the fact that 5.16 crore people came in support for forming 18,000 km long human chain across the state in support of Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali (Water-Life-Greenery) campaign, Kumar said.