Didi's plea to PM on Ganga erosion

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the "perpetual river erosion" along the river Ganga/Padma in Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts, and urged him to seriously look into the matter so that "flood management and restoration schemes can be carried out" to save loss of lives and livelihood from disaster.

The Holy Ganges faces extreme problems accumulated over the centuries. Efforts to save the river have not always been successful. Mamata Banerjee never found time to think environmentally nor did she ever bother to save the river from the ills afflicting it. All that she is worried about is that the natural course of the river is changing. It does happen. When one obstructs river paths and builds cities on it and directs or limits the river to confined places and seeks a sense of discipline from it, you are wrong.

In her three-page letter, Banerjee said that the problem of erosion is resulting in "severe loss of public utilities, private properties and agricultural lands. The problem has been continuing for over the last two decades. Such erosion along the riverbank has largely been caused by the siltation in the riverbed and frequent shifting of river course consequent upon the construction of Farakka Barrage."

She further urged Modi for restoration of extended jurisdiction of Farakka Barrage Project Authority (FBPA), a subordinate office under the Jal Shakti Ministry, to 120 km so that the Centre can take up urgent bank protection schemes in the entire stretch in consultation with the state government as promised. She accused the FBPA of not addressing the problem adequately which has "further aggravated the land loss due to river erosion over 400 square km of 15 blocks of Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts in West Bengal."

Strange isn't it so? Mamata wants Centre jurisdiction to increase in her State! Have we ever seen her accepting any move by the Centre to increase its jurisdiction on anything? It is just a convenient argument. She won't stop construction activity in the flood plains. She won't stop artificial barriers to the river. She won't stop its pollution either. After all, she has now taken up the issue on behalf of the 'people' (read vote bank).

Climate change affects every river in the country and if the governments don't prepare themselves and their people for the future, more tragedy would be inflicted upon them. Futuristic planning does not mean constructing riverbank protection works alone. The side portion of a course of river called riverbank is always important to our human civilisation for all kinds of development.

But it is not so secure for various problems. Riverbank erosion is one of the critical problems in the world, at least in some countries. It has long-term consequences on human life. The problems which create challenges in river basins are flood, landslide, land erosion, deforestation etc. The victims are migrated and they become hopeless. On the other hand, riverbank erosion also affects river ecology in different ways. The governments should have their own plans for these problems.