Das raises Massanjore dam issue at Eastern Regional Council

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Monday raised the issue of Massanjore dam at the Eastern Region Council meeting held in Kolkata and sought a satisfactory solution in the interest of his state's farmers.

In his speech, Das drew the attention of Union Home Minister and chairman of the council Rajnath Singh, saying the Massanjore Dam is in Jharkhand's Dumka district, but farmers are not getting adequate benefits from it and locals are disappointed.

In the interest of the people, a satisfactory solution should be determined, he said.

Earlier, an official statement said Das and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had agreed to solve the Massanjore dam issue through an official level meeting.

They met nearly two months after an impasse broke out over the painting of a part of the dam's wall in the shades of white and blue, the signature colour of the Trinamool Congress, which is headed by Banerjee.

Das raised the matter during a meeting in Kolkata where Banerjee was also present, according to the statement.

It said it has been decided to get a solution at a meeting of officials from the two states and both the chief ministers agreed that the matter should be solved through a dialogue.

In the interest of development, both the states should work together and assist each other, the statement said.

The matter of painting the walls of the dam in the shades of white and blue came to light in the first week of August and officials of West Bengal and Jharkhand met over the issue then.

However, the statement did not mention about the colour dispute.

Massanjore Dam was constructed across the Mayurakshi river in 1955 in Dumka district of Jharkhand.

The West Bengal government had built the dam and the state irrigation department maintains it.