Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Binod Narayan Jha was in Pune recently to interact with officials from Ministry of Water Resources, Maharashtra, regarding the distribution of drinking water. He spoke with Sakal Times and said that people of Maharashtra should visit Bihar once and see the development of the State.
Since you were in the city to discuss the drinking water distribution with the State Water Resource Department officials, can you give some insights into the meeting?
As a Bihar PHED minister, it was a good discussion with the senior officials of the Water Resources Department from Maharashtra. We discussed how they plan the distribution of water in the city.
A project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, what was the scheme?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed to providing water by 2024 to all houses. This was a big challenge across the world to provide clean drinking water. The ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal’ scheme was started in 2015 by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which will be implemented by 2020.
People from Maharashtra have a negative perception of Bihar and its residents. They don’t want to go to Bihar. What should be done to increase the tourist flow from Maharashtra to Bihar?
As expected, the number of tourists who visit Bihar from Maharashtra was less. Yes, there was a lot of negativity among people in Maharashtra. The people of Maharashtra should come and see and then they will realise the state’s glorious past. Bihar is a place of Buddha and Mahavir. The state is not what it was 15 years ago.
Do you think that BJP and Shiv Sena’s alliance will continue in the upcoming election?
BJP-Shiv Sena is a strong alliance. Both the parties will contest election together and there is no ‘If and Buts’ between them and it is beneficial for the nation.
Sometimes, there is news in media that in Bihar everything is not going smoothly between BJP and JDU?
This is perception created which has no base. BJP and JDU are ‘Ideal Alliance’ across the country. Except for a couple of years, JDU has been one of the oldest alliance partners of NDA. The alliance is for betterment for Bihar.
