In a shocking turn of events, the 389.31 crore worth Gateshwar Panth Canal Project, which was all set to be inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, suffered a major blow as a part of the dam collapsed just 24 hours before the inaugural ceremony.

Stirring the administrative head, Minister of Water Resources, Lallan Singh said, "The dam broke due to release of water in full capacity. The incident has not caused any damage to the newly constructed part of the project."

Due to unfortunate accident, the inauguration of the dam has been cancelled.

It is said, the Bateshwarasthan Ganga Pump Canal Project was prepared by the government under the irrigation scheme at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur. Rs. 389.31 crore was spent on this scheme.

The Gateshwar Panth Canal Project is told to be very old and took a long time to complete the project.

The main purpose of making the dam was to collect water in the canal, so that the farmers would not have to face any problem.The collapsing has created a frantic ambience. Several reports of water logging have been identified and water can be seen entering the city, penetrating many homes of low-lying areas.

As soon as the information about the dam broke, the officials concerned immediately reached the spot.

Jharkhand was also to be benefited from this project. Through this project, the irrigation facility would have been available in 18620 hectares in Bhagalpur and 22658 hectares in Godda district of Jharkhand.

Initially, this was just 13.88 crore plan but in January 1977, the Planning Commission had approved the scheme at a cost of Rs 13.88 crore. (ANI)

Ends RT/MM

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