Bihar's cry for national policy on silt management gets a big boost

THE CM HAD BEEN SPEARHEADING THE DRIVE FOR THE SILT MANAGEMENT POLICY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL TO ENSURE INCESSANT FLOW OF RIVERS

- Subhash Pathak

Decks are now cleared for formulation of the long-demanded national silt management policy after the Central Water Commission (CWC) agreed to withdraw its critical remarks against the Bihar government's proposal, pursued since 2012-13, at the 27th zonal council meeting of eastern states at Ranchi on Thursday.

State water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, talking to reporters on Friday, said Bihar government's longstanding demand for framing the national-level silt management policy received a major push after Union home minister Amit Shah, in whose chairmanship the zonal council meeting was convened, stepped in to make the CWC change its stand. “The process of framing the silt management policy suffered a blow after the CWC had stated that removing silt from rivers was neither financially feasible nor desirable,” said the minister.