Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh at Motijheel Mahotsav in Motihari on Sunday. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday iterated his commitment to preserve Motijheel, the natural heritage of Champaran.

The Motihari MP was speaking on the second day of two-day Motijheel Mahotsav, which has attracted a huge number of people from far and beyond.

Speaking on the preservation and beautification of Motijheel, the Union minister said most of the projects related with the development of Motijheel have been delayed till now only because of the “apathy adopted in this matter by the state government”.

He charged the government with not completing the essential formalities due to which nearly Rs 26 crore to be spent towards preservation and beautification of Motijheel by the Union environment and forests ministry still remains unused.

Neither the Bihar government could make use of Rs 2 crore, which was earlier sanctioned by the JDU-BJP government for widening and re-construction of the present Motijheel bridge, nor could it constitute a state-level wetlands advisory board so far. Without constitution of the board, the proposed central grant of Rs 26 crore could not be released.

Wetland International South Asia conservation programme manager Ritesh Kumar came from New Delhi on October 31 to collect a factual report related to Motijheel but only for want of a wetland advisory board in the state, the entire process of preservation and beautification of Motijheel is delayed, Singh said.

The Union minister thanked the administration of Motihari Nagar Parishad under its chairman Prakash Asthana for organising the two-day Motijheel Mahotsav towards creating public awareness for keeping Motijheel clean and functional. Besides, the lakes of Champaran are capable to meet the requirement of fish for the whole state, the Union agriculture minister added.

Singh also advised the people of this town to refrain from dumping garbage as well as their other domestic waste in Motijheel. He assured every support of the central government towards preservation of this beautiful natural heritage to the people of Motihari.

Nagar Parishad chairman Prakash Asthana also sought active support and cooperation of the local people. Motijheel flows across Motihari town since the ancient times but besides being encroached on both the sides, its water has also been mercilessly made filthier all through the years.

On last day of his Seva Yatra in 2012, Nitish Kumar, who was chief minister then, had visited several spots on the bank of Motijheel and directed the secretaries of all the departments concerned to complete every preparation for converting the same into a national lake by conducting a satellite survey of the whole area. But nothing has changed so far.

In a city development plan for Motihari in 2010, the state urban development department also identified it as an environment-friendly city with excellent environment-friendly infrastructure for sustainable development, a “slum-free” and “pollution-free” city. The town being promoted as a tourist hub and planned residential layouts with provision of social and physical infrastructure can be made, the document said.