Patna, Sept. 23: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has written to chief minister Nitish Kumar about engaging to find a permanent solution to the Bihar floods because of spate in rivers originating in his country.

On his visit to India last month, Deuba visited Bodhgaya on August 27. There, too, he had talks with Nitish and later wrote a letter to the chief minister thanking him for the hospitality.

'Our discussions focused on the utilisation of water resources and train the rivers in order to curb the perennial problems of inundation and floods and share the benefits of irrigation hydropower and irrigation,' Deuba wrote in the letter dated August 31 and released recently by the Nepal embassy.

For a long time there has been a demand for construction of the Sapta Kosi high multi purpose dam in Nepal to curb the annual floods and produce around 3000MW hydropower at the same time.

India and Nepal have agreed to do a joint survey on the viability of the high dam as well but the matter has been put on the shelves because of the astronomical cost involved to build it. Environment experts have also raised questions on the ability of the high dam to curb floods and on its ecological impact. Nitish, like his predecessors, has repeatedly raised the issue with successive governments.

Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, in his letter describing the chief minister as a 'good friend' of Nepal, said Bihar was not just a border state but also shared a long history, extensive family ties, and common culture with the Himalayan nation.

'I believe that the development of the Buddhist circuit encompassing Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha and Bodhgaya will go a long way in tapping the huge cultural and religious tourism potential in both countries,' he wrote, extending an invitation to Nitish to visit Nepal.

Nitish had last visited Nepal in March 2016 for the 13th general convention of the Nepali Congress.