Malda: Budget fails to address Ganga erosion issue

Malda: Despite the BJP MP having won two consecutive Parliamentary elections in the North Malda seat, the herculean problem of Ganga erosion issue found no mention in the Union Budget 2024. Along with this, the long standing demand of a mother industry in Malda for mango products has gone unheard.

Samar Mukherjee, MLA Ratua, said: “The Centre is continuously ignoring the problem and the banks of the Ganga have been eroding mainly in the region where it meets the Fulhar River. The gap between the two rivers is very narrow. Once the rivers merge, nothing can be saved here. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has allotted money but the Union Ministry is doing nothing though we have a BJP MP from this constituency.”

The erosion along the banks of Ganga has remained a burning problem in Malda and Murshidabad districts. Terming the Ganga erosion a ‘serious problem’, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an administrative meeting at the Malda College Auditorium on May 4, 2023 had sanctioned Rs 50 crore for the current financial year. The work is to be done in phases for the next 10 years.

She also directed the state convergence of funds from panchayats to procure mangrove saplings and vetiver grass to be planted along the river bank. The Centre has not taken any initiative for the mango products industries of Malda, despite having immense potential.

The traders feel deprived. Malda and Murshidabad districts are famous for the huge production and varieties of mango but no concrete step to set up an industry or marketing of the fruit has been done by the Union government.

Ujjwal Saha, president of Malda Mango Merchants Association and an industrialist, said: “We have been demanding a mango industry for a long time to globally promote mango and mango products of this area world wide.

A mother hub for mango products can well be set up in Malda with modern facilities but the Union Ministry has totally ignored our plea.”