Gaya: For decades, Jehanabad made headlines for wrong reasons—from former Dy CM Jagdeo Prasad’s killing and the jail break to massacres and extremist activity. Though mass violence has ended and peace returned, prosperity still eludes this largely agricultural district.A few days back, Ghosi MLA Ritu Raj Kumar flagged the issue of flash floods and resultant damage to crops and allied problems in the Ghosi area of the district. The flash flood threat mainly comes from the excess Falgu water that has yet not been properly channelised, thereby causing wastage as well as other problems.
Demands have been raised in the past to construct a dam on the Falgu river near Bitho village in Gaya district. During his 11-month tenure as CM, Jitan Ram Manjhi showed interest in dam construction on the Falgu river but little could be done on the ground, said Rajesh Kumar, resident of Hulasganj area of the district.Besides managing excess water flow, the dam will help maintain the water table in both Jehanabad and Gaya districts.Locals bemoan that though Jehanabad has produced many towering political leaders such as late Ramashray Prasad Singh, Ram Jatan Sinha, Arun Kumar and Jagdish Sharma, little has been done to bring development to the district. Late Ramashray Prasad Singh had been the number two in successive Congress govts in the state.Jehanabad has suffered for a long time, said Satish Kumar, former MLA of the Makhdumpur constituency of the district. Even minor issues like perennial waterlogging at the railway underpass in the headquarters town has not been properly addressed, said the former MLA. He also lamented that the issue of road accidents has not been given due attention. According to him no less than 81 people have died in the district in the last 18 months on NH-22 alone but there is no trauma centre.Lack of marketing facilities for agricultural products results in distress sale by the farmers, said people familiar with local issues. There is enough scope for the development of agro-based units in Jehanabad.The district, as per records, does not have even a single medium-scale industry. Except for Agarbatti and bangle making, iron moulding, and some wooden furniture micro units there is little economic activity. The service sector, believed to be the stimulant of growth, is conspicuously absent.Preeti, deputy development commissioner of the district did not respond to calls made at her official number to give the development blueprint.In the absence of development, peace would remain fragile, warned Bishwanath Singh, former HoD, PG department of economics, Magadh University.
