CWC to initiate bank line protection work

Statesman News Service

MALDA, July 22: After receiving a ‘green signal’ from the Bangladesh authorities, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has taken an initiative to start bank line protection works on several rivers’ bank flowing through Indo-Bangla border in three districts of north Bengal.The CWC officials have sought fresh anti erosion plans from the districts irrigation departments in Malda, North and South Dinajpur through the state irrigation and waterways department recently. According to sources of irrigation department in Malda, the CWC has planned to carry out bank line protection work to save Indian lands and put barbed wire fencing at six places in North Dinajpur, two places in Malda and at Samjhia border in South Dinajpur district.Following the instruction from the chief engineer of the state irrigation and water ways department, the executive engineer of Malda irrigation department, Mr Soumen Misra, and deputy inspector general of BSF visited the bank line of the Mahananda a few days ago just to watch the situation of unabated erosion in the areas under Adampur, Muchia, Krishnanagar, Rwishipur border out posts. It may be noted that BSF and BDR had exchanged heavy fire on 19 August 2005 when irrigation department had taken up measures to check erosion of the Mahananda at Adampur and Muchia in a bid to save fencing in Indian land. After the controversy over the land dispute between the two countries, talks were initiated to take up anti erosion work on the Indian side where rivers flowing through the border line had been eroding away large part of lands on the Indian side damaging barbed wire fencing.Though the central government's wing, CWC, took up ‘permanent’ anti erosion projects on banks of several rivers along the Indo-Bangla border in 2005 but it could not implement its plans due to objection by the Bangladesh authorities. A joint survey comprising officials of two countries was conducted in early 2006. During the survey the officials found that several referring pillars were eroded away and missing due to erosion of the river Mahananda. The officials had completed installation of almost 21 subsidiary lands pillars out of 56, which were proposed to fix the alignment between the two countries As a result, the anti erosion project taken up earlier has been extended after the recent survey and the estimated cost of the projects has been increased from Rs 14 crore to at least 30 crores.According to the executive engineer, Mr Soumen Misra, there are several vulnerable points stretching six km on the bank of the Mahananda from Adampur to Krishnagar and Rwishipur. Nearly 30 crore will be required to build concrete guard wall along bank lines of the Mahananda and other works based on the specification of the CWC.The Malda irrigation department has also proposed another anti erosion scheme stretching one km between Battali and Khutadaha on the bank of the river Punarbhaba in Bamongola block. The estimated cost of this project will be nearly Rs. 5 crore. “We can start the anti erosion work in winter if the CWC okays the project after allotting funds”, Mr. Misra said.