BJP MP Palamu VD Ram sees hope for Mandal dam now. Ram said things are moving in right direction for the dam now. This ambitious water reservoir is yet to see completion. Installation of gates in this dam is waiting for clearance from the forest and environment department.
BJP MP said the gates were not installed as forest and environment department had felt huge submergence in the areas engulfing a great part of the Palamu tiger reserve too.
Sources said some social groups with strong religious back up had gone against the installation of gates in this dam.
The superintending engineer of this Mandal dam Baijnath Mishra was killed by then Mazdoor Kissan Sangram Parishad a wing of then Naxal organisation CPI Ml Party Unity in the early nineties on the issue of installation of gates.
Since Mandal dam is a two State affair Bihar and Jharkhand the Bihar Government felt more the pain of its remaining a non starter in all these years and has now come with a solid
solution to reduce the submergence said VD Ram.
He said Bihar Government has reduced the FRl ( full reservoir level) by 4 meter now. This reduction has reduced the submergence menace too he said.
With this 4 meter down FRl there is now hope for gates to come up in this dam he reiterated.
Sources said what BJP MP Ram says has weight and merit too but the grim fact is even by this reduction of 4 meter of FRl Palamu Tiger Reserve’s huge chunk will still come under water of this dam.
Bihar Government has taken a big step forward and now the ball lies with Jharkhand Government to issue an NoC for this. The NoC is to be issued by Jharkhand Government’s forest and environment department.
Water Resources secretary Bihar Government DK Singh has written to Sukhdev Singh Water Resources principal secretary Government of Jharkhand for this NoC.
DFO Core PTR Anil Kumar Mishra said “I am told of this by a functionary of irrigation department. Till date I have no letter in this regard. So it is difficult to surmise what areas of PTR will come under waters of this dam.”
Although this dam falls under Chatra lok sabha seat from where also comes BJP MP Sunil Singh but it is Palamu BJP MP VD Ram who is
spearheading a campaign for this dam to become functional said sources.