Union govt’s indifference is flooding Bengal every year
The neglect of the government in signing an agreement with Bhutan is causing the annual suffering of 43 per cent of the population of the districts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.
The Union government’s apathetic attitude, despite repeated requests, towards forging an Indo-Bhutan agreement with respect to controlling floodwaters has come up as a headache for Bengal.
No real-time data on the release of water from Bhutan has been given due to the lack of agreement and it leaves at least 5,000 sq km in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts flooded almost every year, badly affecting nearly 43 per cent of the total population in these three districts.
Overflowing rivers and river channels coming down from the hills of Sikkim and Bhutan cause the flooding. It takes only around four to five hours only for the heavy volume of water to reach vulnerable areas of these districts whenever there is incessant rainfall in Bhutan.
Besides writing letters, a delegation of ministers, MLAs and MPs from Bengal also put forward the issue during their meeting with Union Waterways Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajib Kumar on August 30.
Since this is an inter-country issue, the agreement has to be made by the government of India. Therefore, clearly due to its lackadaisical attitude, Bengal is suffering. Earlier, the issue of the Union government dragging i’s feet on the Ghatal Master Plan had come up.
