Raiganj: In a significant developmental initiative, riverbank erosion protection work along the Mahananda River has begun at Gosaipur under Kapatia Gram Panchayat in the Itahar police station area of North Dinajpur district. The project is being undertaken with a fund allocation of Rs 3.77 crore from the state government. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Itahar MLA Mosaraf Hossain at a programme held at Radhanagar on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking on the occasion, Hossain said: “Nearly 650-metre stretch of the Mahananda River from Gosaipur to Radhanagar had been highly vulnerable to erosion for many years.
During the monsoon season, the river often is flood-prone, causing extensive damage to nearby settlements and agricultural land.
Several houses and large areas of farmland were swallowed up by the river in the past monsoons. Considering the seriousness of the issue, we approached the state government for urgent intervention.
The state Panchayat and Rural Development Department sanctioned Rs 3.77 crore for boulder piling work along the vulnerable riverbank to prevent further erosion.
The construction work formally commenced on Thursday and is expected to be completed before the onset of the monsoon this year”.
On Thursday evening, the MLA also laid the foundation stone for the repair of an important road stretching about 8 kilometres from Gotlu, near National Highway-12, to Indran in Itahar.
The road repair project will be carried out with an allocation of Rs 1.4 crore from the state Panchayat and Rural development department.