Flash floods: Take up Bhutan issue with Centre, minister urges BJP

MP | 18 July 2023 | Alipurduar: Accusing Prime Minister Modi of not paying attention to the demands of the people, Partha Bhowmick, minister of state for the Irrigation and Waterways department, stated that the Central government has not addressed the issues of flash floods and the land erosion triggered by rivers from Bhutan with the Bhutan government despite several requests from the state government. 

He urged John Barla, MP of Alipurduar and the Union minister of state for Minority Affairs to take up the matter with the Central government, as the “Union government has turned a deaf ear to the West Bengal government.” 

During an inspection of several forested areas in Alipurduar district on Tuesday, the minister stated: “Heavy damage has been caused by flash floods and erosion in certain districts of North Bengal, triggered by rivers from Bhutan. Our neighbouring country, Bhutan, has conducted construction work in their hills in an unscientific manner, leading to flash floods in North Bengal. They lack a master plan to manage the overflow of water and have not consulted our department in West Bengal. If Bhutan needs our expertise and help, we are ready to provide it. 

Unfortunately, we do not receive any information about water and rainfall measurements in Bhutan. The Central government is not doing anything to mitigate this long-standing problem. We have requested the Centre to coordinate with the Bhutanese government to address the issue, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears. We also appealed to the opposition leader of the state to raise the issue in the centre but there has been no response yet.” 

The Minister further added: “Through the media, I request BJP MP John Barla to speak to the Prime Minister about this issue, as the Prime Minister has not paid attention to our demands. Since it is your constituency, I urge you to take up the issue with the Prime Minister for the sake of the people in your constituency. If no initiative is taken to address the flash floods, several areas in North Bengal will be devastated within the next 10-15 years.” 

A high-level team sent by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to review the flood situation visited several forested areas in Alipurduar district on Tuesday. The team visited the Gobor Jyoti River, where the Asian highway was cut off due to flash floods. The team also visited Basra River Spar and Daragaon of Jaigaon in Kalchini block. Minister Bhowmik then inaugurated the work of Dhupguri’s Virupak irrigation canal. 

He laid a foundation stone in the Khattimari area at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. The project is expected to benefit over thirty thousand people residing in four Gram Panchayats. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/flash-floods-take-up-bhutan-issue-with-centre-minister-urges-bjp-mp-526068