Nepal ‘hinders’ dam repair on Bihar border
As diplomatic tension continues between India and Nepal, renovation on the Lalbakaiya river embankment in East Champaran district, 45 kms north west of district headquarters Motihari was stopped by the Nepal authorities on Monday morning.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans, who were engaged in giving protection to engineers and workers from Bihar, were also heckled and humiliated, according to official reports received from Motihari district headquarters of East Champaran.
The East Champaran District Magistrate, Srikant Kapil Ashok talked with his counterpart in Rothut district of Nepal and agreed to stop the work following objections from the Himalayan nation. He has sent communications to the Consulate General in Kathmandu, Bihar Government and Ministry of Home Affairs.
The embankment was damaged in the aftermath of the 2017 flood following heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal. The Bihar government found that about 500 metres of the 2.5-long-embankment was weak and had started work for its strengthening as river Gandak is in spate. The incident took place between pillars no 345/5 to 345/7 on international borders. India claimed work was on in the no man’s land area, opposite Balua and Guawari villages of Dacca block of the district.
Julfikar Alam, a resident of Balua village said, “If the embankment is not repaired immediately, over a dozen villages would be inundated.”
Devanand Shah, a resident of Patahi village feared floods in the villages on the lower reaches of the Himalayas due to delay in renovation of the embankment.
The Dacca circle officer, Ashok Kumar, said the renovation of embankment was being done on the Indian side. However, the Nepal authorities claimed it was on their land and they based their claim on the basis of materials supplied by Google Map. District authorities have sought assistance of the Geological Survey of India to negate the Nepal’s claim.
The Gandak river dam, which is expanded to six districts in Bihar, has 36 gates. Of these, 18 are in Nepal. Over a dozen villages, including Ramnagar, Mehandiya, Maksoodpur and Jagdish Tala in Gopalganj, have been flooded and cut off from the district headquarters of Gopalganj due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of Gandak.
Gandak Barrage has 36 gates, of which 18 are in Nepal and the area where the flood-fighting material is present, they (Nepal) have put barriers in that area. This has never happened in the past. They (Nepal) are not allowing repair work for Gandak dam that takes place in Lal Bakeya river in no man’s land. Also, they’ve stopped repair work at several other locations. For the first time, we’re facing such a problem in movement of people and raw material for repair work. — Sanjay Jha, Bihar’s Minister for Water Resources