Silt removal agreement will be a milestone in reducing flood intensity: Vijay Kumar Choudhary

Patna: (ABN) Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary has congratulated Chief Minister Smriti Choudhary on signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Bihar government and the Central Ministry of Road Transport and Highways regarding silt management and removal in New Delhi. Describing it as an important decision with far-reaching consequences, he said that the accumulation of silt in rivers is one of the major reasons for their degradation and the increase in flood intensity. Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that the Bihar government has been demanding the formulation of a national policy on silt management for the past decade and a half. The gravity of this issue first came to the fore in 2011-12 when former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar raised it at a meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority in New Delhi. At his invitation, then Union Minister Poonam Bansal had also taken an aerial tour from Buxar to Farakka to assess the deteriorating condition of the Ganges due to silt accumulation. He stated that in 2014, during a meeting with then Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti, attention was drawn to the need for a national policy on silt management and the rapid accumulation of silt in Bihar's share after the construction of the Farakka Barrage. Subsequently, the 'Expert Committee on Sediment Management' was constituted for the first time. Based on the committee's report, a framework for national-level silt management was presented in 2022, and opinions were sought from state governments, but it has not yet been finalized. The Deputy Chief Minister said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Smriti Choudhary, the Water Resources Department has recently prepared the 'Bihar Water Resources Restoration and Silt Management Policy 2026', which includes procedures and practical measures for silt removal. Based on this policy, the Chief Minister signed the MoU in New Delhi on November 3, 2026. He said that this agreement will help in removing silt from rivers and reviving them, which is expected to reduce flood intensity. Additionally, the removed silt can be used for filling in road construction and other developmental works, which will also reduce the need to cut fertile soil from farmers' land. Vijay Kumar Choudhary, describing this agreement as a decision with far-reaching impacts for Bihar, extended congratulations and good wishes to the state government and Chief Minister Smriti Choudhary.