Nitish Seeks Rs. 8,600 Cr. in Central Flood Relief Package
Patna: Aug. 12, 2007
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday, during his meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi, asked the Center to provide a relief package of Rs. 8,600 crore for the rehabilitation of the flood victims in Bihar and to rebuild the state that has incurred huge agricultural and livestock losses estimated to be in hundreds of millions of rupees.
During his 30-minute meet with the Prime Minister, the CM asked the center to provide 30 lakh quintal of rice and wheat, 180 lakh liter of kerosene over and above the normal quota for Bihar, a compensation of Rs. 5,000 per hectare for agricultural losses in the 19 flood-hit districts and a commitment to seek financial help from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for the flood victims in the state.
Kumar also apprised the PM in great details of the flood relief work going on in Bihar.
Seeking a permanent solution to the annual flooding problem in Bihar, the Chief Minister urged the PM to involve the Home Ministry, the Water Resources Ministry, and the state government to formulate a policy and a plan that would also involve Nepal that dumps millions of gallons of water each year in Indian rivers.
Singh is believed to have assured Kumar of all possible help to rehabilitate flood victims in Bihar and other assistance in combating flood in the state.
Later, the Chief Minister met with the nation's new President and Vice President of India Pratibha Patil and Dr. Hadim Ansari respectively to congratulate them on their elections. He also met with the former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Finally, Kumar also paid a visit to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to find out about Dashrath Manjhi who remains in the hospital due to ailments caused by old age.
Manjhi, a poor farmer from Gaya district, hit the national headlines last year after the story of his hard work and persistence became known to the world. Using simple tools, Manjhi, for 22 long years, built a 365' long and 30' wide pass across the Gahlaur Mountain to reduce the distance to cross the treacherous mountain.
The Chief Minister, impressed by Manjhi's dedication and dogged persistence, after a meeting with him last year, had promised to build a road across the mountain that, when completed, would reduce the distance to cross the mountain from the existing 80 kilometers to a much simpler and less rigorous 3-kilometer pass.
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