The Bengal government has introduced a new policy to dredge canals under the proposed Ghatal Master Plan without incurring any cost.
A senior official said the new strategy, which is part of the state’s mining policy, would help the government earn revenue, rather than just clearing the silt that causes severe floods in vast parts of Ghatal and adjoining East and West Midnapore almostevery year.
“The state government has implemented its mining policy in the dredging of canals, so it will earn money as royalty for each cubic foot of earth excavated from the canals,” said a senior official.
“As part of the policy, the agency concerned will pay a substantial amount of revenue to the government and excavate the soil and silt from the bed of the canals. This has been recently implemented in the dredging of a canal, which is part of the Ghatal Master Plan,” he added.
The Ghatal Master Plan, a mega-flood management programme aimed at bringing relief to the people in low-lying areas in Ghatal and parts of East and West Midnapore districts, has been a long-standing demand in the area. The foundation stone of the project was laid in 1982, and the first step to implement the Master Plan was taken by the erstwhileLeft Front government.
The Centre primarily approved ₹1,207 crore in 2012 for the plan, but has not released funds so far.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee sent a series of letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding funds for the scheme. She also sent several teams, headed by the current irrigation minister, Manas Bhuniya, to the ministry of Jal Shakti to press for the same. However, all efforts went in vain.
During the last Lok Sabha election campaign, Mamata announced at a rally in Arambagh that the state government would implement the Ghatal Master Plan from its coffers in the absence of central funds. However, multiple officials claimed implementing Mamata’s promise was easier said than done, as it would require thousandsof crores.
Amid the state government’s financial constraints, the new strategy to dredge the canals would help the state government reduce the cost of clearing silt.
Recently, the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Limited (WBMTDCL), which is a wing of the industry department, in partnership with the irrigation department, floated a tender to collect soil from Ghatal’s Palashpai canal. The tender was accepted by local brickfield owners who expressed interest in using the soil for brick manufacturing.
The 19km Palashpai canal connects the Shilabati and Rupnarayan rivers. The dredging of the canal will help clear water flowing from the Shilabati to the Rupnarayan, providing relief from waterlogging for the local people. There are several other canals under the proposedGhatal Master Plan to be dredged.
Palashpai and at least four more canals have been dredged by the irrigation department in the past few years at a cost of around ₹350 crore.
The Palashpai canal was dredged in 2018 at a cost of ₹73 crore. However, previously, the soil excavated was used in building the embankment of the canal.
“The tender has been approved for us, and we have started our work to dredge the Palashpai canal. We will pay a total of ₹4.71 crore to the WBMTDC in multiple phases. We thank chief minister Mamata Banerjee for starting the dredging for the sake of the proposed Ghatal Master Plan,” said Syed Sabbir Ahmad, General Secretary of the Bengal Brick-Field Owners’ Association.
An official said the canals needed to be dredged regularly, as siltation occurs within a few years. Therefore, it is better for the government to adopt the current policy instead of spending money from its exchequer.
Bhuniya said in the Assembly last week that the chief minister had formed a monitoring committee for the proposed Ghatal Master Plan, headed by him.
