Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a new scheme for irrigation called Jalashree, while reviewing projects of Purba Bardhaman district during the administrative review meeting held there on August 26.
The idea behind Jalashree is to coordinate irrigation projects involving canals, wetlands and rivers so as to give effective relief to people during periods of drought.
Flood relief, combating lightning, preventing dengue, improving housing
At the meeting, the Chief Minister also announced several other projects for the district.
A State-wide World Bank-aided scheme worth Rs 2,800 crore is being implemented for building canals and check dams, in order to help in agriculture and irrigation, and also fight floods. Work worth Rs 560 crore has begun in Purba Bardhaman.
The Chief Minister advised the administration to plant coconut trees to deal with lighting, involving workers under the 100 Days’ Work Scheme, right from harvesting seeds in nurseries to planting and maintaining the trees.
She also asked the district administration to culture more guppy fish to combat dengue as the latter can eat up the larvae of dengue-causing mosquitoes. Awareness about dengue must also be increased, she said.
Another announcement that the chief minister made was that 8.30 lakh houses would be built all over the State under the Bangla Awas Yojana.