Anti-erosion project yet to take off

Statesman News Service

MALDA,(India) March. 15. — Even after the joint survey carried out by India and Bangladesh, the anti-erosion project along the river Mahananda that was supposed to begin before the monsoon this year, is still awaiting the administrative approval, officials said. Authorities said that following the shooting stint between the Indian and Bangladeshi border guards in August last year, the Malda district administration took up the decision to carry out the anti-erosion project. As per reports, the Indian border guards had to open fire, when the Bangladeshi border guards objected executing temporary anti-erosion work during the year’s monsoon in order to save some Indian border out posts. “The anti-erosion project is awaiting technical and administrative approval,” said an engineer of the Malda irrigation division. It must be recalled that after the completion of a joint survey between India and Bangladesh and upon receiving the primary report of the survey results, India was given over 1,000 acres of land on the right side of the river Mahananda. The border security forces and the central public works department have already started the 1.23- km barbed wire fencing work in the Adampur border outpost in the first week of February. “We cannot issue notices inviting job tenders without technical and administrative approval,” Mr Pundarikashya Roy, executive engineer of the Malda irrigation department said. The chief engineer II of the state irrigation and waterways department is in charge of giving the approval for issuing work orders, Mr Roy said. According to the irrigation officials, the project file is still with the north central superintending engineer. The project has been prepared in two phases and covers nearly 3,000 metres of the left bankline of the river Mahananda for bank protection by boulder pitching and boulders’ apron on the river bed, the engineers said. Last year, the Indian border guards approached the district magistrate for the protection of bankline in order to save some of their border outposts under the area of Muchia, Adampur, Sukhnagar and others for guarding the porous border. “The BSF top officials are waiting for final report of the joint survey in writing, which is expected to reach by the end of March,” the officials said. The top officials are also planning to resolve the land dispute by adhering to “makeover and take over” of lands between both the countries. Owing to erosion of the river, many Indian croplands have also come up on the Bangladesh side and similarly a part of Bangladeshi croplands has come up on the Indian side. The Indian and Bangladeshi border guards are reportedly in verbal row over the issue.#