The JDU on Tuesday dared NDA leaders in Bihar to specify what they have done in the past three years to ensure the Ganga's cleanliness in the state and to mitigate the floods the river causes every monsoon.

The party took up the Ganga clean-up issue with the NDA leaders after chief minister Nitish Kumar raised the issue of the Ganga's de-siltation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 27. The JDU accused the NDA leaders of neglecting the cleaning up of the stretch of the river in Bihar.

"The central team of experts, which is expected to arrive in Bihar on June 10, should visit the entire 450km stretch of the Ganga starting from Buxar district till the Farakka Barrage to realise the grassroots realities of the situation," said JDU spokesperson Ajay Alok.

He pointed out that the Union government had spoken in the Lok Sabha on April 7 about de-silting the Ganga at Farakka but had taken no further step.

Nitish, Alok said, had continuously raised the issue of de-silting the holy river but the central government had never responded.

The government of Bihar had spent Rs 1,058 crore on anti-flood operations around the Ganga during the last five years, the JDU spokesperson said.

"The floods caused by the Ganga cause devastation every year resulting in the loss of lives and property worth crores of rupees," he said.

The Union government could at least sanction Rs 20,035 crore for building treatment plants, beautification of ghats, construction of toilets and planting of trees along the river, the JDU leader said.

He accused Bihar BJP leaders and other NDA parties of remaining silent on the issue.

"We want to ask BJP leaders what they have done to ensure that their government at the Centre takes steps on these issues," Alok stressed. "Most districts fall in areas where the NDA has substantial influence. We would want the NDA leaders to issue a report card on what they have done."