July 13, 2019
Bangla CM criticises Centre for not dredging barrages & rivers in Bangla
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday, July 9, turned up the pitch against the Centre for not doing enough to solve water issues in the State.
Due to the lack of dredging at Farakka Barrage for years, Mamata Banerjee said, it is not being able to hold excess water, leading to flooding, and this in turn causing food crisis.
She also blamed the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for not undertaking dredging work in various dams and barrages.
She said the Centre has not taken any positive steps, despite repeated pleas by her government.
Continuing on the issue of flooding, she said the governments of Jharkhand and Bihar discharge huge amounts of water during monsoon, as a result of which a vast portion of Bangla gets flooded. Though the matter has been raised with both those governments, they have not taken any steps.
The chief minister also said that the River Atrai flowing through South Dinajpur district has been drying up after the Bangladesh Government set up a dam on it, and in this case too came down on the Centre for not taking up the issue with the neighbouring country.
The nearly 400km of the river in the State has been a source of livelihood to thousands of fishermen and farmers in the region.
Another international river issue that is festering because of the Centre’s inaction, the chief minister said, is the flooding of various stretches in north Bengal due to the discharging of water along the River Sankosh by Bhutan.
Source: Millennium Post
