Time is ticking on the authorities digging the 7.1-km-long channel to bring the Ganga nearer to the city before the monsoon with barely half the work done.
The deadline barely three weeks away, officials have been able to dig around 3.5km on the alignment of the new channel as on Friday. The digging, which initially started at only one place because of farmers' protests, is now going on simultaneously at three different places on the banks of the river - Kurji Ghat, LCT Ghat and Pehalwan Ghat.
According to the directive of the high court, the new channel has to be constructed between Kali Ghat and Digha Ghat .
Deliberating on the status of the channel construction work, an executive engineer in the water resources department looking after the project said: "We have completed a little above 50 per cent of the work and progressing rapidly to cover the remaining stretch within the set deadline. Twelve Poclain machines (earthmovers) and 80 tipper machines have been deployed on the banks of the Ganga for the channel construction work."
According to the timeframe submitted before the high court, the channel construction work is slated to be over by June 15 - around the expected time for the onset of the southwest monsoon in Bihar. An estimated outlay of Rs 8.5 crore is being utilised on the construction of the channel.
The officials of the water resources department had reached LCT Ghat on April 19 but they had to abandon the site because farmers did not allow them to commence the digging work. The agitators claimed that large chunks of land in the alignment earmarked for digging the new channel belonged to them as it was declared as raiyati (revenue) land following the shift in the river around 1908-09. The work later commenced at Pehalwan Ghat, which is around a kilometre east from LCT Ghat.
Protesters are still trying to stop the work through legal recourse. "We had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) but the court did not entertain it. It asked us to register our grievance in the existing PIL, based on which the channel digging work has been initiated. The court is closed for summer vacation from Saturday and I don't think our grievance would be heard anymore," said Dilip Kumar, who claims ownership of 3.25 acres of land at Rajapur on the banks of the Ganga.
Patna High Court has taken a strict stand on protests against the channel construction work. During the hearing of the original PIL on May 5, the division bench of Chief Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Justice Sudhir Singh stated that objection to the digging work would be treated as contempt of the court and necessary action should be taken against such persons. The division bench stated that those with any grievance against the construction of the new channel should approach the court, rather than obstructing the work on the site.
Officials in the water resources department heaved a sigh of relief after the support from the high court for the channel construction works. "We have gradually started the digging work at the places where farmers were initially staging protests. The work is progressing at a faster rate owing to the support from the high court," said the executive engineer of the water resources department.
