West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of “perpetual river erosion” along the river Ganga- Padma in districts of south-central West Bengal resulting in severe loss of public utilities, private properties and agricultural lands. Ms. Banerjee urged the Prime Minister to kindly reconsider the decision of Farraka Barrage Project Authority (FBPA) of withdrawal of the extended jurisdiction so as to fulfill the earlier commitment of the Central government and arrange for taking up bank protection schemes in the entire stretch of the extended jurisdiction.
The Chief Minister pointed out that in 2005, the Ministry of Water Resources extended the work jurisdiction of FBPA from 40 km upstream of the Barrage to a further 80 km downstream for the purpose of undertaking anti-erosion and riverbank protection in the entire stretch. “ Moreover, surprisingly, the Union Ministry of Water Resources, by their letter dated 11th July 2017, unilaterally withdrew their earlier decision of 2005 and restored the original jurisdiction of FBPA from 11.5 km upstream to 5.9 km downstream of Farakka Barrage,” Ms. Banerjee wrote in the letter.
In her three-page letter dated February 21, Ms. Banerjee pointed out that the severity of the problem can be appreciated from the fact that almost 2800 hectares of fertile land has been engulfed by the river and there have been damages to the public and private properties to the tune of ₹1000 crore during the last 15 years.
Emphasising that the problem has been continuing for the past two decades, the Chief Minister said that since the FBPA has not assessed the problem, the situation has further aggravated the land loss due to river erosion over 400 square kilometer of 15 blocks of Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia in West Bengal.
The Chief Minister went on to say that since FBPA did not take up any substantial work, the State Government had to take up urgent bank protection work at 31 identified vulnerable locations during the last four years at the total cost of ₹168.47 crore to protect thousands of flood victims of Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia district.
”The actual requirement of funds is much more. As per the latest assessment, 37 locations along the river Ganga- Padma, for a length of 28.80 km are vulnerable and require immediate attention. The concomitant expenditure for river bank protection would be to the tune of ₹571 crore,” the communication added.
Ms. Banerjee said that it is increasingly becoming difficult for the State government to arrange the funds required for new bank protection work and urged the Prime Minister to have the matter looked at seriously so that flood management and restoration can be carried out in the right earnest.
