Congress alleged that people were forced to drink contaminated water under Nitish Kumar’s regime.
Patna:
Congress alleged Sunday that residents of Bihar were forced to drink contaminated water under Nitish Kumar’s rule, and towns and villages in the state “turned into dumping grounds”.
National Congress Secretary General Randeep Singh Surjewala said not only the water had become impure, but there was also corruption in government projects related to it.
In addition, people are forced to live in cities full of garbage, he said.
To get his point across, Surjewala addressed the press conference on the road outside the Patna GPO, located in the heart of the city.
“Right behind me is the land where a nice complex was to be built but it is now used for dumping garbage. If this is the situation in the state capital, one can imagine the deplorable situation in other cities in the state, “he told reporters.
National Congress Spokesman Pawan Khera, MLC Party Prem Chandra Mishra and State Congress Spokesman Rajesh Rathor also attended the press meeting.
Referring to the Centre’s “ Swachhata Survekshan 2020 ”, the congressional leader said Patna ranked at the bottom of the list of 47 cities over 10 lakh.
Of the 382 cities with a population of 1-10 lakh, Bihar’s 26 cities were among the dirtiest, Surjewala said.
Gaya was ranked 382, he added.
Even Danapur cantonment turned out to be the dirtiest among 62 cantonment areas in the country, he said.
The congressional leader said that after seeing the waste management situation in the state, the Green National Court last year called it an “emergency.”
The NGT also expressed serious concern about Bihar’s air quality index, as Patna was the third most polluted city in the country.
The court also took note of the level of arsenic in the state’s water, he said.
Mr Surjewala said that only 3.36 lakh households out of a total of 1.78 crore received piped drinking water in the state. Water in most districts of Bihar has been affected by arsenic or fluoride or uranium, he said, citing data from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Ten districts are affected by fluoride while 11 districts are affected by arsenic, he said.
According to a report prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), all 10 drinking water samples collected by it failed the test and were not safe to drink, he said.
