Konar Irrigation Project fiasco: Department blames ‘Rat Holes

Ranchi: To save their skins after the canal of the much-hyped Konar Irrigation Project broke down in less than 24 hours after being inaugurated by Chief Minister Raghubar Das the department and its engineers have blamed the ‘rat holes’ as part of their initial investigation in this fiasco.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department Arun Kumar Singh wrote on twitter that following the breaking of the canal and damage caused to the crops a high-level team led by chief engineer advance projects of the water resources department has been constituted which has been asked to submit its reports within 24 hours.

An official press release issued by the IPRD here quoting initial investigation as suspected ‘rat holes’ being responsible for causing damage to the canal. On the other hand, Mr Singh said that the supply of water in the canal has been stopped and repair works was on. However, the incident gave fresh ammunition to the opposition parties in the state who said that to take credit before the polls in a hurry the project was launched by Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

The project was supposed to provide water to 85 villages spread across Hazaribagh, Giridih and Bokaro districts. Whether it was the JMM, JVM(P) or CPI (ML) they all flayed the state government for this incident with JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya alledging of a nexus between the previous water resources ministers (Chandraprakash Chowdhary, sitting minister Ramchandra Sahis and Chief Minister Raghubar Das. He even asked the Chief Minister to come clean on the wrongdoings in the project.