Nitish orders to stop misuse of groundwater by RO firms

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday directed officials to check the misuse of groundwater by Reverse Osmosis processing companies in the state.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water treatment process that removes contaminants from water.

Kumar also stressed on the need to take action to ensure the use of water for irrigation purpose after treating it at the sewage treatment plant, an official release said.

"We are getting complaints of misuse of groundwater by RO processing companies. The officials concerned should take action to check the misuse," the chief minister asked officials at his public interaction programme "Lok Samvad" in his official residence.

Kumar gave the directions to officials after hearing suggestions from a Bhagalpur resident Deepak Kumar Jha for conservation of rain water, recharging groundwater, reducing the use of wood at cremation sites etc.

It was not clear what type of complaints the government has received about the misuse of groundwater by RO processing firms.

During the "Lok Samvad" programme, the chief minister along with his cabinet colleagues receives suggestions for improving governance from people and issues orders to officers present there.

The public interface programme, held after a gap of several months, used to be followed by a media interaction by the CM. But No invitation was sent to the media houses for participating in the programme this time and an official release has been issued.