‘State to complete Ghatal Master Plan in 5 years sans Centre’s aid’

Kolkata: The state government has set a goal to independently complete the Ghatal Master Plan within five years, without any assistance from the Central government.

Deepak Adhikari (Dev), recently re-elected from the Ghatal Lok Sabha Constituency, held a meeting on Wednesday with state Irrigation and Waterways Minister Partha Bhowmick—who recently resigned as an MLA after winning the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat—and other relevant state government officials.

The discussion focused on the implementation of the Ghatal Master Plan, which is currently under consideration.

After the meeting, Dev said that the state government would complete the Ghatal Master Plan within 5 years and the senior engineers of the state Irrigation department would visit the place and carry out a detailed assessment to identify which canals need to be widened and also the identification of land. The plan will be prepared within six months.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised Dev that the Bengal government would implement the Ghatal Master Plan on its own.

She has therefore given utmost priority to its implementation. Bhowmick was given the charge of the Irrigation minister by the Chief Minister and the responsibility was also given to him for the implementation of the plan.

As he was responsible for handling the Ghatal Master Plan, Bhowmick may continue as the Irrigation minister for the next couple of months as the Constitution allows a person to remain as a minister without winning an election in the state Assembly for 6 months.

The Ghatal Master Plan is a mega project envisaged back in 1959 to save the low-lying areas in and around Ghatal, located at the base of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, from the annual flood.

The overflowing waters of the rainfed rivers like Shilabati, Damodar, Rupnarayan, and Dwarakeshwar, originating in the plateau, inundate a large number of villages every monsoon, destroying crops and displacing people.

The project was approved in 1980 and a foundation stone was laid in 1982. A year after the Trinamool Congress came to power, the state government in 2012 sent a detailed project report, estimating a total cost of nearly Rs 1200 crore, to the Centre.

The BJP-led Union government later changed the funding ratio between the Centre and the state government from 75 per cent-25 per cent to 50 per cent-50 per cent.

But, with no funds being allocated, the project could not take off yet, even as the state and the Union governments continued to blame each other.