Sand mafia threat to livelihood at Balagarh
More than 2-km stretch of river bank, from Guptipara Surya Mandir onwards is undergoing a massive erosion at an alarming rate.
More than 2-km stretch of river bank, from Guptipara Surya Mandir onwards is undergoing a massive erosion at an alarming rate.
Flood management and restoration schemes are imperative to save lives and livelihood. Not wholly unrelated are the fragile embankments that tend to break up during heavy rain and high tides. Perhaps it is cause for alarm that over the past two decades, an estimated 2,800 hectares of fertile land had been washed away by the river; the damage to properties, public and private, amounted to Rs 1,000 crore.
The study is being conducted by the National Center for Coastal Research (NCCR)—an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the Minister of State for Earth Science Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here on Thursday.
The Commissioner of police Chandannagar Commisionerate, Mr Arnab Ghosh today conducted a video conference with the Civic heads, heads of different police stations and other administrative heads to stay alert over the impending threat of cyclone Gulab and twin low-pressure system, he said.
As per the website of the department of irrigation and waterways, the Ganga is flowing at a level of 25.39 m, which is above .09 m from extreme danger level, while the district irrigation department claimed that people need not fear about anything.
According to sources, the block has been facing erosion at places like Lalutola, Bhimatola and now at Birnagar, where the river has so far swallowed almost 70 huts and 150 bighas of agricultural land.
According to sources, incessant rainfall in north Bengal in the past few days had caused swelling of the three rivers that flow through Malda- -Ganga, Mahananda and Fulhar-- resulting in water-logging in some parts of Old Malda and English Bazaar.
