Nitish Kumar chairs meeting on urban development and housing

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting where he shared his vision for urban development and housing in the state with special focus on shelter for the vulnerable sections of society, better drainage system and improved waste disposal mechanisms.

The meeting, held at the Chief Ministers official residence 1, Anney Marg, was attended, among others, by his deputy Tar Kishor Prasad who holds urban development and housing portfolios and Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar.

The chief minister, who won a fresh term in office last month, briefed the attendees of the proposed works, in urban development and housing, to be undertaken as part of “Saat Nishchay part-2” his blueprint for the next five years.

These included construction of multi-storeyed housing complexes for the homeless and shelter homes for the elderly with no care-givers.

Kumar also laid emphasis on “storm water drainage system”, which would prevent water-logging in the event of a city or town being lashed by a spell of heavy rainfall.

Notably, several parts of the state capital were left inundated for days together in October last year following torrential rainfall.

The chief minister also touched upon the need for better management of liquid and solid waste and recycling of garbage and called for a study of places where these have been conducted with considerable success and replication of the same in Bihar.

He also stressed on the need for better facilities at old-style cremation ghats and modern electric crematoriums.

He suggested that ponds be dug in the vicinity of ghats where last rites are performed so that the visitors face no shortage of water while the purity of the river concerned is also maintained.