Darbhanga.‘Santidhar Yojana’ was approved in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday. This will not only remove the problem of floods and water logging in large areas of Darbhanga and Samastipur districts but will also increase the scope of irrigation facilities. Under ‘Shantidhar Scheme’, the surplus water of Bagmati river will be mixed with Budhi Gandak river near Trimuhani village of Khanpur block of Samastipur through Shantidhar originating from near Ghogharaha of Kalyanpur block of Samastipur district. Rs 120.96 crore will be spent on the scheme.
Expressing happiness over this ambitious scheme getting approval from the Cabinet, Water Resources and Information and Public Relations Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said that this ‘Shaantidhar Scheme’ was prepared in accordance with the concept of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of connecting the rivers within the state. Is. Under this scheme of the Water Resources Department, the water flow capacity of the old Shantidhar will be restored.
Through the scheme, people of Baheri and Hayaghat of Darbhanga district and Kalyanpur, Warisnagar, Khanpur, Rosra and Singhia blocks of Samastipur district will get direct benefit of flood relief as well as irrigation facility. For this, the proposed AFS will be operated smoothly through SCADA system. Under the scheme, irrigation facility will be available in a total area of 39350 hectares of the said blocks.
It is also noteworthy that under the Bagmati-Shantidhar-Budhi Gandak river linking project, Moro, Hasanpur, Ratnapura, Rajwa, Godaipatti, Saidpur, Rampur, Patori, Rupauli, Daghraul, Vishanpur, Rajwara, Gopalpur, Madhopur, of Hanumannagar block of Darbhanga district. People of villages like Godhwada, Daath, Balha etc. will get relief from the problem of flood and also from water logging. This will also help in maintaining the groundwater level in the area.
Shantidhar (dead edge of Bagmati river) is found at km 5.40 of Somarhat-Hayaghat embankment in Kalyanpur block of Samastipur district. Under the plan prepared by the Water Resources Department, an anti-flood sluice with a water discharge capacity of 15 thousand cusecs will be constructed at this site and the surplus water of the Bagmati River will be sent to the Budhi Gandak River in a controlled manner. Apart from this, side protection work will also be done in both upstream and downstream of the proposed AFS.
With this, the impact of flood of Bagmati river in Darbhanga and Samastipur districts will be significantly reduced. Besides, road bridges will also be constructed at six places identified by the department, which will facilitate transportation for the people of Kalyanpur, Shivaji Nagar and Khanpur blocks of Samastipur district. The scheme will directly benefit the large population of Darbhanga and Samastipur districts and will give a new impetus to the development of the area.