Suvendu to visit North Bengal to take stock of monsoon prep

MP | 25 June 2019 | Kolkata: State Irrigation minister Suvendu Adhikari will visit North Bengal on July 6 to take stock of the preparedness in preventing flood-like situation, with the onset of monsoon season.

The minister said a round-the-clock control room has been set up at Jalsampad Bhavan in Salt Lake, for passing on information of excessive waterlogging.

"I have already done meetings at the Kolkata zone, Western districts zone and Midnapore zone and supervised measures for tackling flood-like situation in the state. I will visit North Bengal on July 6 for the same purpose," Adhikari said, in response to a query at the state Assembly on various projects taken up in the state to control flood.

The minister said that his department will soon start developing a sewerage system to prevent flood-like situations at Banarhat in Jalpaiguri and its adjacent areas. The tea gardens in Banarhat and its adjacent areas also bear the brunt of this.

"Central government organisations like ONGC and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Railways and Bhutan government needed to be taken into confidence for tackling the problem in the area. It took time but our department has taken everybody into confidence and work for sewerage infrastructure will start soon. We are hopeful that this problem will be resolved before the 2020 monsoon," Adhikari said.

Flash floods in Bhutan bring down stones from mountains located particularly in Joygaon area and this causes siltation in the rivers in Jalpaiguri almost every year during the monsoon. This results in flood-like situation in Banarhat and a number of tea gardens are also affected.

Adhikari reiterated that meetings have already been held with Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and Farakka Barrage authorities to inform the state and take its nod before releasing water from the barrages.

It may be mentioned that water level in dams has been low till date, as there was 26 percent less rainfall last year in the state.