Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday instructed officials to prepare a plan for management of sewage water and said it can be used in irrigation to augment agriculture.
Nitish was holding a review meeting with state urban development minister Maheshwar Hazari, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and officials of the department to take feedback on progress of work under different schemes, which are part of his "seven resolves" of good governance.
The chief minister instructed officials to prepare a plan for management of sewage water so that it can be utilised properly, an official statement said. He said the government is giving importance to compost farming. "Sewage water can be utilised for irrigation purpose," he said.
Discussions were held on progress of urbanisation in Bihar, schemes for providing drinking water, sewage facility and toilet to every household in the state, which are part of the "seven resolves" adopted by the Grand Alliance government for good governance, the statement said.
Giving details about the meeting held at 1 Aney Marg, minister Hazari said: "We held detailed discussions on various projects currently under way to improve the civic amenities across the state. Discussions were held on schemes such as 'Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal', 'Ghar Tak Pakki Nali-Gali', toilet construction, AMRUT Yojana, Namami Gange Yojana, HRIDAY Yojana, Patna Metro rail project, smart city scheme, housing for all scheme, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, solid waste management, drainage and sewerage, traffic, energy efficient street lights and parks."
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"We also had discussions about the work carried out by the Bihar State Housing Board," Hazari said. "During our meeting, the chief minister showed his keen interest on optimal use of sewage water and directed the officials concerned to plan schemes where sewage water can be utilised to its full capacity so that it did not go waste."
Hazari said the proposed Metro project also came up for discussion.
"Any new Metro project needs to be approved under the National Metro Policy that came into effect in June. As we had prepared the detailed project report (DPR) under the previous policy and had sent it to the Centre for approval, we now have to make amendments in the DPR to make it adhere to the new Metro policy which will cause further delay in execution of the project," Hazari said.
The Metro project has been waiting for the Centre's approval since March last year. In the intervening time, Hazari had met Union urban development and housing minister M. Venkaiah Naidu several times. But the project was awaiting nod, prompting allegations by Hazari that the Centre was deliberately delaying it.