Asok seeks help for river

TT, Siliguri, March 2: Mayor Asok Bhattacharya has said he sought the central government's help to revive the Mahananda that cuts through Siliguri as rampant encroachment, immersion of idols and sand and pebble deposits have virtually sounded its death knell.

Bhattacharya said he had written to Union minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar on February 26, requesting him to bring the Mahananda under the National River Conservation Plan and National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems. Under the schemes, the Centre grants funds for the conservation of rivers, and fish and aquatic organism.

"I have gone through a report prepared by the state pollution control board on the quality of water in the Mahananda. It shows that the river is so polluted that its water is not fit for use. We apprehend that the river might dry up if the pollution continues at the current rate. We need to take immediate steps to revive it and arrest the pollution through appropriate measures," Bhattacharya said here yesterday.

The Mahananda originates from the Kurseong hills and enters Siliguri at Samarnagar near Champasari in the north. The river's exit point in Siliguri is near the Third Mahananda Bridge in Naukaghat.

Environmentalists have pointed out that the river doesn't have a single stretch with a steady flow of water on its 10km course in Siliguri.

"The authorities concerned like civic body and development agencies have done nothing seriously for its revival. The encroachment - concrete constructions and cow sheds have come up on the riverbeds as wells as the banks - is one of the reasons for the Mahananda's near total destruction. Immersion of idols also pollutes the river," said Animesh Bose, an environmentalist.

Besides, garbage and deposit of pebbles and sand are filling up the river, said environmentalists