Patna: Water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh a.k.a. Lalan Singh has asked department engineers to be on alert during flood or face his wrath.

"Last year, many department engineers who were on flood duty did not do their work honestly," Lalan said in the company of department principal secretary Arun Kumar Sinha.

"When there was pressure on the embankments, they disappeared. We identified 19 such engineers and they were suspended," Lalan issued the statement while sharing details on flood-fighting preparation during a news meet at Soochna Bhavan on Monday.

Lalan added that chief minister Nitish Kumar always says that people affected by disaster have the first right on the state treasury and disaster always comes because of flood.

Lalan said: "If any engineer deputed in flood-fighting is found not performing their duty, it will not be tolerated. We never know when the flood will come and when the embankment will breach. Nobody can guarantee that but what we can do is struggle till the last moment to save the embankment. Last year we dismissed a chief engineer and two executive engineers from the service."