Expert committee preparing blueprint on 'sustainable embankments'

Kolkata: The state Irrigation and Waterways department has set up a seven-member technical expert committee with experts from IIT Madras and Kharagpur to prepare a thorough road map for constructing a "sustainable embankment" in Super Cyclone Amphan-affected areas.

The committee is expected to submit its report by this month based on which the field work will start to ensure construction of "sustainable embankments" that can withstand natural calamities like severe cyclones without getting damaged.

Dhrubajyoti Sen of IIT Kharagpur's Department of Civil Engineering is the chairman of the Committee of Technical Experts with other members including S A Sannasiraj of IIT Madras and Prof. Sibopriyo Mukherjee of Jadavpur University's Department of Civil Engineering. The four other members of the committee are chief engineers of "South", "South-West" and "Design and Research" divisions of the department. Director of Designs of the Central Design Office is also a member of the committee.

Around 170 km of embankment has been damaged at different locations in East Midnapore, North and South 24-Parganas. Embankments in the Sunderbans have been heavily damaged. The step is to reconstruct the damaged embankments following a uniform design and technical parameters, said a senior official of the department.

Photographs and videos taken using drones were sent to the experts to assess the actual scenario to prepare the report. They will be keeping different parameters including soil condition of the area, weather change issues and accessibility to the place into consideration while preparing the road map. The vulnerability mapping of the areas, where the work will be carried out will also be taken into account.

The state government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure speedy reconstruction work in the affected districts. Sixteen districts have been affected due to Amphan while East Midnapore, North and South 24-Parganas experienced the worst damage.