Kolkata, June 22 -- The state government has significantly advanced work on the Ghatal Master Plan, a long-standing flood management project in the Midnapore region, entirely through state funding in the face of prolonged "inaction" by the Centre.

Construction work on five sluices began in February 2025 and has already reached 60-70 per cent completion, according to state officials. The dredging of the Chandreshwar Canal is nearly finished and work orders have been issued for the construction of two pump houses in the Ghatal Municipal Corporation.Additionally, tenders have been floated for the dredging of seven river and channel stretches, including the Silabati River, Old Cossye, Tamal, Parang, Buri Ganga, Solatopa and Old Solatopa, covering a combined length of approximately 75 kilometres. The overall project is targeted for completion by March 2027.

Trinamool wrote on X: "FACT CHECK: The Ghatal Master Plan has been pending with the Centre for 12 years. Despite repeated appeals from GoWB, the heartless Modi Govt. hasn't lifted a finger. To make matters worse, @MinOfPower-controlled DVC releases massive volumes of water without any prior notice. With ZERO support from Centre, Smt.@MamataOfficial

took matters into her own hands.

The Ghatal Master Plan is now being implemented using state funds, with Rs.1,500 crore earmarked for the project and Rs.500 crore allocated in FY 2025-26 Budget. From Day 1, GoWB has been transparent that this is not a quick fix. It will take at least two years for implementation but the wheels are in motion While Bangla-Birodhi@BJP4India sits idle and weaponises people's suffering for cheap political gains, Bengal's Chief Minister shows what true leadership looks like. Today, 'PM' stands for Propaganda Mantri . But in Bengal, 'CM' proudly means Compassionate Mothe."

The Irrigation & Waterways (I&W) department had originally submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Ghatal Master Plan to the Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC) under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti in December 2014. The plan was part of a comprehensive flood management scheme covering 657 square kilometre across East and West Midnapore districts, including eight blocks and two municipalities. The DPR proposed an expenditure of Rs 1,212 crore and sought central assistance under the Flood Management and Border Area Programme.

While the Centre finally granted investment clearance for Rs 1,238.95 crore in 2022 after years of appraisal between 2014 and 2022, no funds have been sanctioned to date. Despite multiple attempts and continuous persuasion by the state over the past 11 years, the Central government apparently has not released any financial support for the project.

The Bengal government, meanwhile, carried out significant work between 2018 and 2021, completing re-excavation of seven river stretches in the project area, totaling 115.80 kilometres, at a cost of Rs 341.49 crore from the state's own Budget.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state would fully implement the remaining components of the Ghatal Master Plan using state funds. The government has earmarked Rs 1,500 crore for the remaining work, to be executed over the financial years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. An initial allocation of Rs 500 crore has been made for the 2025-2026 financial year.

Meanwhile, the I&W department has dismissed claims made by BJP state general secretary Locket Chatterjee, who posted on social media platform X that the project was originally supposed to be completed by December 2024. The department clarified that while Central investment clearance came in 2022, no Central funding followed, forcing the state to take over the project unilaterally.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.