Back from Delhi, Nitish inaugurates India’s largest rubber dam on Falgu

This was the first programme of Kumar after he returned from Delhi, where he had gone on a three-day visit to work for larger Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday inaugurated India’s longest rubber dam on Falgu river in Gaya, where lakhs of pilgrims from across the country and abroad arrive every year during the Pitripaksha Mela to pay homage to their ancestors, and a steel foot over bridge for the convenience of the visitors.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar along with deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav inspects the Gaya Ji Dam on river Falgu after inauguration on Thursday . (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

This was the first programme of Kumar after he returned from Delhi, where he had gone on a three-day visit to work for larger Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The meeting with leaders of Opposition parties was good in Delhi. It is the beginning of the initiative and it will continue. I am not a candidate for any post. My focus is on bringing all the Opposition parties together, as that can make the difference in 2024,” he told reporters persons before going to Gaya.

Kumar said that keeping in view of the religious beliefs associated with the place, he had proposed the name ‘Gayaji Dam’. “It is a place of salvation. I am happy the dam has been completed ahead of its deadline and before the Pitripaksha Mela, starting Friday. Now, the second major step will be to ensure Ganga water in Gaya and store it here all through the year. Ganga water has reached up to Rajgir and it should reach Gaya by year-end,” he said, thanking Water resources minister Sanjay Kunar Jha and his team for completing the project, the foundation stone for which was laid on September 22, 2020.

Kumar said the dam will draw more pilgrims and change the landscape. “The dam has been built at an estimated cost of ₹324 crore. Experts from IIT (Roorkee) were involved with the project. There will be enough water in the dam round the year for the convenience of the pilgrims,” he said.

Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said that the rubber dam, which presents a picturesque site that nobody had earlier imagined, was a manifestation of the CM’s vision.

Responding to former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s remarks that he would like to address Nitish Kumar as PM so that Tejashwi Prasad Yadav could be the CM, the deputy CM said, “Nitish Kumar has been serving Bihar for years and he will keep doing so. We will extend our cooperation to him. There is no confusion about that. We are not into rhetoric. Those who came to power in 2014 had promised interlinking of rivers, converting Benaras into Kyoto and jobs, but have nothing to show. We believe in action. The rubber dam speaks volumes of the vision and commitment of Nitish Kumar “ he said.