Ex-Patna HC chief justice to conduct Kosi probe

NEW DELHI: As the vast Kosi belt continues to face unprecedented human misery, politics over the breach that unleashed the havoc has shifted to top gear with the central and state governments blaming each other afresh.
In a deft move, the Nitish Kumar government named retired Patna High Court chief justice Rajesh Walia to head a probe commission that would also examine the steps taken by "successive governments" to implement the 1953 Indo-Nepal treaty which provided for constructing a high dam on the Kosi in Nepal to check floods.Since little has been done on that count so far, the blame would certainly fall on the Centre, which often paid lip service to the high dam proposal but did precious little for its construction.
The commission is also mandated to examine the steps taken by the state government for the upkeep of the embankment between 1990 and 2005, the 15 years when Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi were chief ministers. Realising the judicial probe's damage potential, the Centre has also prepared itself to take on the state on a slightly different turf through the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). NDMA is slated to meet on Friday to ascertain what steps the state government has taken to plug the August 18 breach at Kusaha and put the river back on its original course.
The disaster authority, sources said, has a view that since not much has been done to plug the breach so far, the chances of a repeat disaster are strong in the coming months if the river's catchment areas in Nepal receive heavy rainfall.
The resultant assessment could corner the state government as it, with all the participating agencies focused on relief and rehabilitation since the disaster was declared a "national calamity" by the PM, has not been able to pay attention to plug the breach.
The NDMA meeting, sources said, is likely to focus on the fact that plugging the breach is a long haul, likely to take six months or more. Records show that the Nepal areas often receive heavy rains till October, adding fuel to the Centre's "fears" that the disaster may recur.
Nitish Kumar, incidentally, has already aired this fear on many occasions and even asked the evacuated population not to return to their villages in haste just because the water has shown a receding trend.
Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal has been in the forefront of blasting the state government for the breach with Union minister of state for water resources Jaiprakash Narain Yadav citing official records and communications to prove this point.