Pay heed to MM Joshi's reservations on Clean Ganga project: Nitish Kumar

Patna, Jun 8: Two days after senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi questioned the feasibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Clean Ganga' project, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today asked the party to pay heed to the leader's reservations on the project.

"Joshi has rightly questioned the feasibility of the 'Namami Gange' project by pointing out that the project will remain a pipe dream till an uninterrupted flow of water is ensured in the holy river," he said in reply to a question.

He (Joshi) is a senior BJP leader and member of the party's 'Margdarshak Mandal', so his concerns must be heard and heeded to by the Centre, Kumar said.

"What is the use of 'Margdarshak Mandal' if the opinion of its members is not respected by the BJP?" the Chief Minister asked.

Questioning the wisdom of NDA government in going ahead with the project without reviewing construction of dams and barrages on the Ganga river and removal of siltation from the water body, the Chief Minister caustically remarked that the BJP did not know the history, geography and geology of the river and its course.

Supporting the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Kanpur for expressing reservation on the feasibility of the 'Clean Ganga' project, Kumar said he himself had been stressing on measures to ensure uninterrupted flow of water in the holy river, but the fact was that the river was not flowing uninterruptedly due to construction of dams and barrages on it in different states.

The BJP leader has rightly expressed concerns about lack of depth in the Ganga due to siltation and construction of dams and barrages in several states through which the holy river flows, the Chief Minister said.

He said that Bihar was the only state where the river Ganga flows uninterruptedly carrying 400 cusec water in Buxar and then entering West Bengal with 1600 cusec water.

While addressing a function at Varanasi on World Environment Day, Joshi had questioned the feasibility of the 'Namami Gange' project and claimed that the river can not be cleaned even in the next 50 years.

PTI