Bihar: NDA leaders express concern over Nepal floods; Manjhi blames China

Patna, Aug 27 (IANS) Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar on Thursday expressed grief and concern over the devastating floods in Nepal and warned of the potential impact on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Saran, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in Nepal, noting that accurately predicting natural phenomena such as cloudbursts remained a challenge. He stressed the need for more discussion and better preparedness to handle such disasters effectively. Bihar Minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal described the situation stretching from Nepal to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as a natural disaster. He appealed for prayers for minimal loss of life and property in the affected areas and said everyone would have to confront the crisis together. Rashtriya Lok Manch (RLM) National President and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha also expressed concern over the devastation in Nepal, offering condolences to the families of those who died and voicing concern over reports of Indians being among those missing. Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, meanwhile, made a political statement regarding the origins of the disaster. He alleged that China was responsible for the flooding in Nepal, arguing that it could have controlled or retained water in Tibet if it had wanted to. Manjhi questioned why China did not take adequate measures to contain the water in Tibet, given its control over the region. He said that had the water been held back, the situation in Nepal might not have become so severe, and Bihar would not have faced the same potential threat. He acknowledged the scale of devastation in Nepal, including deaths and destruction of homes and property, and noted that water moving downstream from Nepal could create a flood threat in parts of Bihar. He said the situation in Bihar was less serious than initially feared and expressed confidence in the state government's preparedness. Manjhi said the administration was on alert and that relief and rescue arrangements were being made to deal with any possible emergency. --IANS ajk/dan