Patna, March 15: The Assembly pollution control committee today criticised the urban development department for being insensitive towards pollution in the Ganga.

The committee, headed by BJP MLA Ram Pravesh Rai, tabled its report in the Assembly in which it held the inaction, insensitiveness and lack of foresight of government departments, particularly the urban development department, for the pollution of Ganga in the state. It also stressed that the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) was too weak in stopping the river pollution.

“The urban development department appears to have washed its hands off the responsibility of checking the pollution of rivers. The job of creating mass awareness on the issue falls on the state pollution control board,” said the committee.

The committee recommended the urban development department to prepare detailed project reports on sewerage treatment plants in all municipal areas located along the Ganga and build the plants within a deadline. It also asked the pollution control board for stricter measures against organisations polluting the Ganga.

Health hub hygiene

BJP MLA Sanjay Sarogi today challenged health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s claim inside the Assembly that two incinerators were functional in Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The MLA alleged that the Bihar State Pollution Control Board had been issuing notices to DMCH for non-disposal of bio-wastes since 2002, indicating that the incinerators had never been used and had even filed a case against the hospital authorities in the court.

Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary instructed the minister to get the allegations investigated by a senior official of the health department.