Flash floods issue set off by Bhutan rivers: ‘Centre’s apathy a hurdle’
Siliguri: Partha Bhowmick, minister of state Irrigation and Waterways department blamed the Central government’s lackadaisical attitude and apathy as a major hindrance to resolving the flash flood and erosion woes faced by certain districts of North Bengal, triggered by rivers from Bhutan.
He is leading a team sent by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to assess the flood situation in North Bengal.
A high-level meeting was held at Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat in the Jalpaiguri district on Monday.
“The Central government is not playing any significant role in resolving the longstanding problem. We requested the Centre to coordinate with the Bhutan government in solving the issue but they did not give ear to the request,” said the minister.
On Monday morning, the minister visited the Hadugach and Jatrapara areas under the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district. There he inspected the damaged bridge and talked to the villagers, assuring them that the issue would be resolved soon.
Thereafter, he held a meeting with District Magistrates of five districts — Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Kalimpong. Police and administrative officials of five districts, including irrigation, water resources development, agriculture, disaster management, fire brigade were present at Uttarkanya.
The minister said: “This flood situation in the north is mainly due to the indifference of the Bhutan government in sharing information with us. We are unaware of the amount of rain in Bhutan. As a result, sudden flash floods and landslides occur. The Central government is not taking up the matter with Bhutan, despite repeated requests from the state government.”
Recently, the Chief Minister asked the respective department to take up the matter with the Union government so that a joint committee can be formed with Bhutan so that necessary steps can be taken beforehand.
The Bhutan government needs to build check dams on the rivers which flow from Bhutan to India and should inform the Indian government about the quantity of rainfall. Then only, the State government will be able to take necessary measures to handle the situation.
The minister said there is a need to dam the Raydak, Sankosh, Basra, Kaljani, Jayanti and Torsha rivers originating in Bhutan.
Incidentally, 48 places in Cooch Behar, 700 houses in Jalpaiguri, 250 houses in Alipurduar district are partially damaged, and 70 houses were completely damaged in the rains of the last few days.
A dam is being constructed at Birubadpur in Jalpaiguri for Rs 9 crore. With this about 32,000 people will be benefited.
On the other hand, the governments of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand have jointly taken the initiative to solve the erosion problem of Muznai and Phulahar rivers in Malda.
