Kolkata, March 12 -- The state government is preparing a master plan for addressing river erosion issues in Malda and Murshidabad districts.
"Thousands of people have been rendered destitute with their land being devoured by river erosion while schools are being washed away. Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the Centre several times for funds to
address the issue.
The Centre remained indifferent to the plight of these affected people and have not provided funds. We have already taken steps to address the erosion with our own funds and have initiated the process of preparing a master plan," said state Irrigation and Waterways minister Manas Bhunia in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Bhunia pointed out that incidentally the jurisdiction of Farakka Barrage Project Authority (FBPA ) has been reduced from 120 km (40 km upstream and 80 km downstream) to 19.4 km (12.5 km upstream and 6.9 km downstream) which has left out important towns such as Dhulian and Samsherganj.
"The Centre's allocation in flood management and border area projects is Rs 412 crore for the entire country.
This shows the Centre is not in a position to allocate funds for addressing erosion issues in Bengal," said Bhunia. He said that in the last three financial years (2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24), the state has taken up seven projects associated with curbing erosion and has covered 22.435 km area beside Mahananda River by spending Rs 27.16 crores. A department official said Rs 100 crore have been allocated for protecting Samsherganj in Murshidabad from erosion and work is ongoing in full swing.
The state has allocated Rs 200 crore this year in the Budget to address the same. Bhunia appealed to the BJP MLAs to look into the matter with a humanitarian approach and urge their Central leaders to release funds for alleviating the plight of the people who are at the receiving end of river erosion.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.