Kolkata: The state government is taking assistance from Netherlands for sustainable implementation through cooperation in the fields of water security, flood mitigation, water resilience, coastal protection, delta morphology and embankment damage protection. A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed between The Netherlands and the state Irrigation and Waterways department at the sixth edition of the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit that concluded on Thursday.
"The objective is to develop a framework for a two-year programme for technical cooperation starting from this month itself. This will entail long-term cooperation in the field of integrated delta management and development of the Indian Sunderbans and coastal areas of Digha," a senior official of the state Irrigation and Waterways department said.
The Netherlands has already sent an expert team, which is presently doing a field trip at the Sunderbans to chalk out a plan on what would be the right steps in controlling flood, coastal damage etc. The mission will be till April 28 and during this period, the group is also likely to visit Digha and prepare the contours of the proposed two-year programme in consultation with the state government.
"Embankments in the Sunderbans and Digha keep breaking whenever there is any natural disaster. Dikes have been effective in preventing flooding of rivers in Netherlands. This may be used for Bengal too for creating strong embankments which cannot be breached easily," Namit Shah, Honorary Consul General of Netherlands in Kolkata said.
Netherlands, which is known for its expertise in water management, will suggest measures to prevent saline water from sneaking into agricultural soil causing damage to crops and plans for rainwater harvesting that will help in nurturing more crops leading to a sustainable development of these regions.