West Bengal in talks with Jharkhand, Bihar on project to stop Ganga-Padma erosion

Kolkata: West Bengal government is in discussion with Jharkhand and Bihar to take up a project to stop Ganga-Padma erosion. The project is likely to take off following the approval from the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal state minister of Waterways and Irrigation Manas Bhunia said.

Elaborating about the erosion and its impact in Malda and Murshidabad districts of the state, Bhunia said more that 8479.98 acres of land in Malda and Murshidabad districts till date.

“The Chief Minister wrote several times to the Centre and Prime Minister but we did not receive any assistance from the Centre. People are living in precarious circumstances with houses, schools, mosques and all sorts of lands getting eroded due to Ganga and Padma erosions. Immediate measures need to be taken in order to save the people,” Bhunia said.


In Malda, the people who lost lands, were given ‘patta’ (land deeds) by the state government. “Altogether 2199 land deeds were given. Around 413 villages in Malda and Murshidabad are under water, including 195 in Murshidabad alone,” the minister said.

In Murshidabad’s Samserganj and Dhuliyan are under threat of erosion. These areas recently witnessed communal violence and riots, which took three lives.