“The Chief Minister, ministers of the departments concerned and officials must be booked for criminal neglect that led to the loss of so many lives,” Singh, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs told reporters.
He claimed that engineers and contractors associated with the Kosi embankment, which breached on August 18, had informed him that the embankment would have been safe had the state government spent Rs five to ten lakh for its repair.
Singh charged the Bihar government with having removed and demoted Satya Narain, chief engineer of the Water Resources Department at Birpur on the ‘pretext’ of a vigilance inquiry after he informed the state government about the imminent danger to the embankment at Kusaha in Nepal.