A BJP MLA from Malda has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his appointment to apprise him about the erosion caused by the Ganga and the Mahananda rivers, becoming the first legislator from the party in recent years to do so.
Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, the MLA of Englishbazar, also sought Modi's intervention to help thousands in Malda and Murshidabad affected by river erosion.
The MLA said in her May 28 letter that affected residents are either from the Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes.
“Many are farmers while others are into inland fishing and deserve attention. I am requesting you to send a high-level expert committee from the PMO or from the National Disaster Management Authority in conjunction with the Ministry of Jal Shakti and National Water Commission to analyse the vulnerability and victimisation of the said population,” she wrote.
In Bengal, the Ganga flows southwards to Bangladesh, with Malda and Murshidabad on its left and right banks.
Recently, chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Modi government of ignorance of the problems of erosion. Despite repeated communications from the state, the Centre neither allotted funds to check erosion nor helped the affected families, Mamata alleged.
Speaking on her initiative, the BJP MLA said: "Many families who are victims of erosion have become migrant workers after losing their homes, land and other belongings. The state government here has hardly done anything for them. We want the Prime Minister to intervene and take the necessary initiatives to prevent erosion. Every day, the Ganga and also the Mahananda, are gobbling up chunks of land in these two districts."
In her letter, Mitra Chaudhury said the Centre should allot Rs 10,000 crore for initiatives to check erosion.
“I have mentioned that the fund can be spent through different wings of the Centre like the Farakka Barrage Project Authority, Inland Waterways and the National Ganga Mission. Works like construction of new embankments and preventive guard walls in Assembly areas like Englishbazar, Manikchak, Baishnabnagar (in Malda) and Samserganj (in Murshidabad) can be carried out with this fund,” the MLA said.
Mitra Chaudhury pointed out that initiatives like Namami Gange and National Ganga Mission had failed in this region.
“Allotment of funds and initiation of work has to be done urgently. Or else, people here can no longer have faith in us,” she said.
"As Lok Sabha polls are ahead, the saffron camp seems to be under duress on the erosion issue that affects a large population here. It seems that's why the MLA has sent the letter to the PM,” an observer said.
Two apolitical outfits working for erosion-hit victims, the Ganga Bangan Pratirodh Action Committee and the Calcutta-based Jana Andolan, have also held that instead of the state irrigation department, the Centre should take up the onus to prevent erosion of the Ganga as it is the national river.
