NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at tackling Bihar’s perennial flooding problem while creating assets for road construction, road transport ministry and NHAI will undertake desilting of rivers and water bodies across the state at their own cost and use the excavated silt and sand for road construction.Under “Nadi Sanjivani” (river rejuvenation) framework, which was signed between road transport ministry and Bihar govt on Tuesday, the first-of-its-kind initiative, will serve two purposes — highway agencies will carry out dredging and will get construction material for free, and it will improve water flow of rivers to reduce the risk of floods. Under this agreement, 243 lakh cubic metres of silt will be utilised in 16 ongoing national highway projects and another 835 lakh cubic metres is proposed for 27 future projects.Muddy water from Himalayas in Nepal flows into rivers passing through Bihar during rains, resulting in silt getting deposited in riverbeds, which causes floods every year. If the plan goes well, this problem would be addressed to a larger extent. “The silt that was the cause of floods until yesterday will now become the foundation for development,” Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said after signing of the agreement.He said this can be a template for other states to get construction materials from dredging of rivers and other water bodies. At present, highway builders get soil and other construction materials from far off places, which causes delay and pushes up construction cost.In his address, Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary highlighted the state’s vulnerability to recurring floods that cause losses to farmers, agricultural land, livelihoods and infrastructure. “Bihar doesn’t face destruction because of its water but because of water from neighbouring nations and other states. Seven prominent rivers from Nepal pass through Bihar and if it rains in Nepal, Bihar faces destruction… There was more than 32% less rain this year, but the highest flood level (HFL) changed in three major rivers.
HFL of Ganga was maximum in the past 200 years,” he said.Choudhary said these were clear signs of deposit of silts in rivers and state govt quickly accepted the offer Gadkari made for desilting of rivers.Speaking at the event, NHAI chairman Santosh Yadav said the initiative is crucial considering that non-availability of soil can hold up embankment works and delay completion of highways. He said one-year of delay in under construction highway projects in Bihar is estimated to lead to around Rs 2,000 cr in civil cost escalation and around Rs 2,800 cr loss in toll remittance.