Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today slammed the Nitish Kumar government for sand shortage in Bihar and alleged that it was awarding mining lease of sand in violation of its own rule.
The state government had awarded sand mining lease in Bihar in violation of Section 21(A) Bihar Minor Mineral (Amendment) Rules, 2014, which mandated environment clearance from the District level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, a fact that the NGT pointed out before banning sand mining in the state, the BJP leader said in a statement.
Stating that the Nitish Kumar government has committed contempt of court and falsely blamed the Centre for shortage of sand in Bihar, he said that the application for environment clearance for sand mining was pending before the state level environment clearance authority and not with the Centre.
The Centre also through different letters has already
made it clear that there was no talk of building any barrage between Varanasi to Haldia (NW-1), Sushil Modi said.
He also questioned the Bihar Chief Minister's protest when the state government has already given its consent for the said Waterways.
He quoted a letter written by Inland Waterways Authority of India Chairman Amitabh Verma to Bihar Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh in January last which said, "The consent of Government of Bihar was duly obtained for the notification of six rivers for declared as national waterway viz MW 37 (Gandak), 54 (Karmnasa), 58 (Kosi), 81 (Punpun) and 94 (Sone)."
Sushil Modi said the national seminar in Patna from February 25-26 should deliberate and study the adverse impact of Farakka dam and also discuss the problems of silt deposit in other major rivers of the state including Kosi, the worst affected by siltation.
