Nepal not cooperating in flood control: Bihar officials to House panel

The committee, headed by BJP MP Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, had called government officials from Bihar, Assam and Kerala, where floods have claimed several lives.

“States shared the problems they are facing in the management of floods. For instance, Bihar government officials raised the issue of non-cooperation from the Nepal government,” said a source after the meeting. The source said that the committee now plans to take up this issue with the Ministry of External Affairs.

“Assam officials informed that the state is facing problems due to hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh. These projects are only meant for power generation, they don’t have any infrastructure for water storage or flood management,” said the source.

Kerala government officials too apprised the committee about steps taken for flood management.

All the states raised the issue of funding.

“The states said that earlier, the funding pattern for flood management programmes was 90:10 between the Centre and states. It was then reduced to 75:25 and has now been further reduced to 50:50,” said the source.

Sources said the committee will call officials from NITI Aayog to discuss the issue of funding.