‘Take up breach with Nepal’

The BJP has asked Manmohan Singh to take up with Nepal the issue of a major breach in the Kosi in the Himalayan country, which has caused a deluge in Bihar, reports HT Correspondents.

The BJP has asked Manmohan Singh to take up with Nepal the issue of a major breach in the Kosi in the Himalayan country, which has caused a deluge in Bihar.

HT Image

“A 3-km barrage over the Kosi in Nepal is damaged. We demand that the Prime Minister’s Office intervene in the matter and take up the issue with the Nepal government to save Bihar from further devastation,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad said.

“We also ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the matter as an issue of national calamity and initiate a coordinated action involving the defence forces due to the urgency.”

Prasad said it was for the first time in two decades that Kosi has changed its course and “the PMO needs to take up the matter with Nepali government to combat the crisis”.

Lalu meets PM

Free ration worth Rs 157 crore — 5 lakh quintals of wheat and 5 lakh quintals of rice — has been released from the Central pool for Bihar.

A delegation led by RJD chief Lalu Prasad met the PM and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to submit a memorandum demanding immediate relief measures. The RJD and LJP members jointly signed the memorandum.