Men in Jharkhand shout BJP slogans, stop state workers from painting Massanjor Dam in blue & white

Kolkata: In an unprecedented incident, the work to paint Massanjore Dam in blue and white has been stopped by some people from Jharkhand. Moreover, the Biswa Bangla logo has also been replaced with that of Jharkhand.

This comes despite the fact that Bengal government carries out the maintenance of the dam, which is in Jharkhand, as per the agreement with the Centre. It may be mentioned that the hydropower generating Massanjore Dam over river Mayurakshi is located near Dumka in Jharkhand, which is around 38 km upstream from Suri at Birbhum in Bengal.

Though the dam is in Jharkhand, the state Irrigation department had recently taken up some work for its maintenance as per the responsibility of the Bengal government. After completion of the maintenance work, the work to paint the dam had started and like all other state government establishments, the dam was also getting a coat of paint in blue and white. A logo of Biswa Bangla was also put up on the dam.

State Irrigation minister Soumen Mahapatra said: "I came to know that all of a sudden, some people of Jharkhand came to the dam on Friday morning and stopped the ongoing work. At the same time, they put up a logo of Jharkhand in place of our Biswa Bangla logo."

The state Irrigation department has been carrying out the maintenance and beautification of the dam at a cost of Rs 1.30 crore. But the employees, who were carrying on their work in full swing, were asked by the people from Jharkhand to stop working.

"The people came shouting slogans of BJP and stopped the work," said Mahapatra, adding that it is an unfortunate incident. He has informed the matter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

At the same time, an FIR has been lodged in this connection and the district magistrate of Birbhum, Moumita Godara Basu, has also been directed to take up the matter with the concerned district magistrate in Jharkhand, which is under BJP rule.

The state Irrigation minister said that there are several Central government offices in the state. "Are they not allowed to decorate their offices as per their wish?" questioned the minister, adding: "Then why will the dam in Jharkhand not be painted in blue and white when the Bengal government is in charge of its maintenance?"

Anubrata Mondal, Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president, said: "They don't even know that blue and white are the official colours of the state government and not the colours of any political party."