Bengal Govt repairing canals in Howrah dist to prevent flooding

To prevent the kind of floods that caused huge damage to farmlands, houses and people in Howrah district last year due the DVC’s unannounced release of water, the State Government has started the repair and renovation of canals in the district.

The regions of Udaynarayanpur and Amta were specially affected. Hence, the blocks of Amta-1, Amta-2 and Udaynarayanpur are being given stress on. The renovation and repair of canals would cost an estimated Rs 30 crore.

The idea is to enable the flow of water from the Damodar to the Rupnarayan via these canals – about 30 to 35 thousand cusecs of water. Hence, water would not overflow the banks of the Damodar and life and property would be saved.

The filling up of the canals will serve another purpose too – vast areas of croplands would get water throughout the year.

Source: bengali.news18.com

11,000 Dhara Sevaks to be inducted for irrigation in Paschimanchal districts

The Bengal Government has taken yet another step for irrigation in places which are naturally dry. Around 11,000 people will be inducted as Dhara Sevaks under the Ushar Mukti Scheme in six districts, mainly in convergence with the 100 Days’ Work Scheme.

These 11,000 people will be taking up irrigational work in the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum. These districts get little rainfall; hence unavailability of proper water resources hampers agricultural work.

It has been planned to make watersheds using the rivers Ajay, Damodar, Mayurakshi, Kansabati and Subarnarekha. Rainwater will also be harvested in these watersheds.

The State Government has planned to build around 105 micro-watersheds which will help in irrigating around 84,000 hectares.

 

Source: Bartaman

Major administrative reforms by the Irrigation Department

The State Irrigation and Waterways Department has undertaken important administrative reforms and is about to start work on a major project, to benefit the South Damodar Sub-basin.

West Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Management Project (WBMIFMP)

The State Government is on course for implementing the West Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Management Project (WBMIFMP). It is meant for rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the DVC canal system and the improvement of flood management infrastructure in the Lower Damodar Sub-basin. It is going to be majorly funded by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

 

E-Governance

The Irrigation and Waterways Department has introduced the e-office application to achieve transparency and efficiency in decision-making. Now exchange of files and other communications are being done in electronic mode.

Major administrative reforms undertaken

  • Bringing out Unified Schedule of Rates with effect from January 19, 2018-04-21
  • Periodical scrutiny of Plan projects by internal Technical Assessment Teams (TET)
  • Commissioning of three departmental Quality Control Laboratories at the zonal level, and continuation of execution work for four more introduction of biometric assessment system at Jalasampad Bhaban, the departmental headquarters
  • Major restructuring of the civil wing of directorate-level offices, including redeployment of manpower, and creation of new setup for the newly created Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur districts
  • Organising short-term training programmes for departmental officers at River Research Institute (RRI) and submitting proposals to Higher Education Department for starting post-graduate courses on Hydrology and Hydroinformatics during financial year (FY) 2018-19
  • Organising State-Level Bidders Conference before commencement of working season for clearance of doubts and sharing of information regarding implications of the newly-promulgated Goods and Services Tax on work contracts

 

Thus, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Irrigation Department has undertaken and fulfilled a lot of projects, be it for the people or administrative reforms on how the department functions. Adoption of e-governance has enabled much smoother and quicker functioning of communication needs.

 

 

প্রশাসনিক সংস্কার – সেচ ও জলপথ বিভাগের কিছু পদক্ষেপ

 

গত কয়েক বছরে প্রশাসনিক সংস্কারের জন্য নানা পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছে রাজ্য সেচ ও জলপথ বিভাগ। সাথে, দক্ষিণ দামোদর বেসিনে বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রণের জন্য চালু হয়েছে এক গুরুত্বপূর্ণ প্রকল্প। আসুন দেখে নিই এক নজরে।

বিশ্ব ব্যাঙ্ক ও এশিয়ান ইনফ্রাস্ট্রাকচার ইনভেস্টমেন্ট ব্যাঙ্কের আর্থিক সহায়তায় গত বাজেটে ঘোষিত ডিভিসি খালের পুনর্বাসন ও পুনরুজ্জীবনের প্রকল্প পাশাপাশি দক্ষিণ দামোদর অঞ্চলে বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রণ পরিকাঠামোর উন্নয়ন করা হয়েছে।

 

ই-গভর্ন্যান্স

২০১৮ সালের জানুয়ারি থেকে এই দপ্তর কাজে স্বচ্ছতা ও গতি আনতে ই-অফিস ব্যবস্থা শুরু করেছে। এখন সমস্ত ফাইলের আদান প্রদান হয় ইলেক্ট্রনিক মাধ্যমে।

প্রশাসনিক সংস্কার

  • আগের বাজেটে ঘোষণা করা ইউনিফায়েড শিডিউল্ড রেট ১৯শে জানুয়ারি ২০১৮ থেকে চালু করা হয়েছে।
  • অভ্যন্তরীণ টেকনিক্যাল অ্যাসেসমেন্ট টিমগুলি দ্বারা পরিকল্পনা খাতের প্রকল্পগুলির পর্যায়ক্রমিক পরীক্ষা করা হয়েছে।
  • জোন স্তরে তিনটি কোয়ালিটি কন্ট্রোল গবেষণাগারের কাজ শুরু হয়েছে, এবং আরও চারটি গবেষণাগারের কাজ সম্পন্ন করা হবে ২০১৮-১৯ সালের মধ্যে।
  • ২০১৭ সালের সেপ্টেম্বর মাস থেকে জলসম্পদ ভবনের সমস্ত কর্মচারীদের জন্য বায়োমেট্রিক অ্যাটেন্ডেন্স সিস্টেম চালু করা হয়েছে এবং জেলাস্তরেও একইরকম ব্যবস্থা করা চালু করা হচ্ছে।
  • ডিরেক্টরেট স্তরের অফিসগুলোর সিভিল উইঙে পুনর্গঠন করা হয়েছে। ঝাড়গ্রাম ও পশ্চিম বর্ধমান জেলায় নতুন পরিকাঠামো তৈরী করা হয়েছে।
  • নদী গবেষণা কেন্দ্রেগুলির কর্মীদের জন্য প্রশিক্ষণ কর্মসূচীর ব্যবস্থা করা হয়েছে
  • ২০১৮-১৯ সালে হাইড্রোলজি ও হাইড্রোইনফরমেটিক্স নিয়ে স্নাতকোত্তর পাঠ্যক্রম চালু করার প্রস্তাব দেওয়া হয়েছে উচ্চ শিক্ষা দপ্তরকে।
  • সবরকম তথ্য আদানপ্রদান করতে রাজ্য স্তরে একটি দরদাতাদের নিয়ে সম্মেলন করেছে দপ্তর।

WB CM personally monitors flood relief operations from Nabanna

The excessive rain for the past two days coupled with high tide and water released from Jharkhand and Odisha has rendered the flood situation in West Bengal “beyond control”, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday.

She advised people in vulnerable areas to take shelter in relief camps to avoid “untoward incidents”.

“In the last four years, there has been no flood like this year’s. So far, we have witnessed man-made floods and we have restricted them quite successfully. But the situation at present is rendered beyond control,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna on Sunday.

“I know that it is difficult to stay out of home but life is priority. So you must stay in relief camps for two, three days,” Banerjee said, advising people in vulnerable areas to take shelter at relief camps.

Yesterday, I had said that there was 61 percent excess rainfall. Today, it’s 70 percent excess rainfall, she said.

Holding the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) responsible for releasing excess water resulting in floods in the state, Banerjee said, “DVC is doing business…We love them but that does not mean they will submerge Bengal.”

“Two years ago, we had written to the Centre that more than two lakh cusecs of water can be reserved in DVC reservoir only if dredging is done. I will again write to them,” she said.

The Chief Minister earlier held a meeting with Chief Secretary, DGP, IG Law and Order, IG Police and Disaster Management Secretary.

WB Govt to concretise bridges and link Rivers to combat flood

The WB Irrigation Dept is preparing to combat the floods in the forthcoming monsoon season well in advance.  This includes repairing and concretisation of old bridges, building new concrete ones and connecting rivers.

State Irrigation Minister Rajib Banerjee informed that Damodar and Ajay Rivers will be linked at Katwa’s Nutunhat via the Satkahania canal in Durgapur. Out of 110 km, 80 km of river Kumdul will also be dredged and revived.

A few weeks ago the Irrigation Dept had launched a programme under slogan ‘Secher Jol, Chashir Bol’ under which indexing of water distribution from various water bodies was circulated to help in Rabi and Boro Cultivation.