Jagran correspondent, Bhagalpur. The situation of encroachment and illegal construction in Manik Sarkar Ghat area is becoming serious day by day. The situation is such that now a road has been built here by filling soil in the lap of Ganga. Due to blocking the flow of Ganga by filling it with debris, the risk of erosion in the surrounding area has increased.
A few days ago, the District Magistrate had ordered an investigation into the matter of road and culvert construction in Ganga, yet no action was taken. Even after knowing everything, the district administration is proving unsuccessful in curbing the activities of the land mafia. This may also cause a setback to the efforts of the government and the district administration to bring the main stream of Ganga towards the city. Many buildings in Manik Sarkar Ghat area have also been constructed without getting the map passed from the Municipal Corporation. A culvert has been illegally constructed across the Ganga from Manik Sarkar Ghat to Nathnagar Diara. Not only this, a road to Diara has also been made by adding soil and debris.
Now tractors, motorcycles and other vehicles are moving on this route. The water flow has been affected due to the construction of a dam in the Ganga stream. Even SDRF boats are not able to patrol if someone drowns. Boat operations have also been disrupted. Due to this culvert and route, problems will arise in cruise traffic also.
No permanent solution for anti-erosion work
With the decrease in the water level of Ganga, the scope of cracks on the embankment is increasing. The action plan for building the embankment by the Municipal Corporation has not yet taken concrete form. The engineer measured a distance of 350 meters to build an embankment, but it is not possible for the corporation to build an embankment here because they do not have experts to build embankments.
In view of this situation, Mayor Dr. Bashundhara Lal has written a letter to the Flood Control Division and Disaster Management Department for the construction of embankment. Municipal Commissioner Shubham Kumar has also sent a letter to the concerned department. The radius of the crack has increased from 100 feet to 400 feet. No arrangement for prevention has been made so far. Building construction is also being done in the cracked area.
Drain constructed from storm water drain collapsed
BUDCO had constructed the drain under the storm water drain scheme for rain water drainage in the urban area. About 80 feet of this drain, built about eight years ago at a cost of Rs 40 crore, has collapsed. This situation has arisen due to the flow of Ganga carrying away soil from below the drain.
This is also raising questions on the quality of the drain, because less rods were used in the construction of the drain. The drain has collapsed into three parts, and not even the rod is visible from where it broke. Now this matter needs to be investigated by the technical team.