Flood control steps in North Bengal, NE not enough

SILIGURI: After a long dry phase, the monsoon has brought back the smile on agri-based North Bengal and the North East (NE). But, it also marks the beginning of the flood season and along with it, land erosion and loss of lives. The demand, supply and utilisation pattern of funds to manage these in this flood-affected region shows gross mismatch.

According to the National Commission on Floods report, NE is a major contributor to the annual national average loss of around Rs 1000 crore. Nature activists figure it even higher.

The hydro-history of this region in the post-independence era clearly shows rapidly increasing frequency, intensity, spatial coverage and magnitude of flood damage year after year.

The Centre has already approved Rs 8,000 crore under the flood management programme for the 11th Plan, said S Pathak, Rajya Sabha MP from Darjeeling. But, how far can this meet the need in this Ganga and Brahmaputra basin area, is the question.

In the recent past, critical flood control and anti-erosion schemes worth Rs 305 crore have been cleared. Schemes worth Rs 225 crore for critical flood control and anti-erosion projects in Brahmaputra and Barak valleys have been cleared.
Another state sector scheme of the ministry of water resources worth Rs 166.68 crore for NE and West Bengal has been approved, said North Bengal Flood Control Commission officials. But this is not enough, they accepted.

According to the report of the special task force of the water resources development ministry, West Bengal has suffered most due to floods and river erosion over the past 50 years. The overall loss was estimated at over Rs 14,651 crore. This is in addition to loss of more than 8700 human lives and over 6 lakh livestock.

Flood water washes out more than 2.5 lakh hectare agriculture land every year. Annual erosion in the east bank of Farakka upstream is a menace in the entire Ganga basin. Large-scale dredging of Ganga to give it strength to withstand 25 lakh cusec monsoon period hydro load had been proposed earlier. But "it alone requires over Rs 1600 crore", said M. Alam, senior member, Ganga Bhangan Pratirodh Action Nagarik Committee.