Chief minister Nitish Kumar's anger over Saturday's boat tragedy that killed 24 persons has prompted city police officers to turn their attention to the long-neglected areas along the Ganga.

Nitish is learnt to have read the riot act to the cops over the poor state of affairs at the state's only river police station, at Mauzipur village near Fatuha in Patna rural.

The chief minister had inaugurated the police station on May 20, 2011. It was meant to keep a watch on criminal gangs operating along the river belt, but like many ideas launched with much fanfare it has been wallowing in neglect.

"We are sending a fresh proposal to the police headquarters to strengthen the first river police station in the district," Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said on Tuesday.

The SSP was present at the impromptu meeting chaired by Nitish on Sunday over the boat mishap near Sabbalpur Diara.

The river police station, which the Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation had constructed at a cost of Rs 56 lakh, is at present manned by a sub-inspector and a constable though three officers and 24 constables have been sanctioned for it.

The police station has not registered any FIR since its inception, police sources said.

Maharaaj said it had also been proposed to extend the jurisdiction of the river police station. Earlier, it was assigned to patrol the river stretch from Fatuha to Didarganj in Patna City and some parts of Vaishali district.

"We have hired a mechanised boat on rent for carrying out the routine patrolling," the SSP told The Telegraph.

A police officer who had earlier served at the police station said the building developed cracks soon after it was made operational and the cops manning it had virtually no work. He revealed that officers and constables are deployed there from the nearby police station or the police lines on special occasions only.

"Once the special events are complete, the police forces are sent back to the police lines," the officer added.

On August 5, 2014, the cabinet at its meeting chaired by then chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had cleared the home department's proposal to set up three additional river police stations at Bagaha (West Champaran), Supaul and Naugachia (Bhagalpur) to keep a tab on organised crime syndicates operating in riverine areas. However, the additional police stations remained non-operational due to lack of funds.

"The funds for setting up the river police stations never reached the district headquarters," said an IPS officer who had served as the Supaul SP.

"Gangs mainly use the riverine belts to keep kidnapped persons because these areas are inaccessible for the security personnel," said a former director-general of police.

He said patrolling in riverine areas has always been a big challenge for the state police, and added: "The first state-of-the-art river police station in Patna forfeited the very purpose of its inception."