E-Paper
TMC to approach Union minister for funds for work in cyclone-hit areas
A 10-member delegation of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, including ministers and lawmakers, will meet Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday to seek funds for the reconstruction of Digha and Sunderbans, which were badly hit by cyclone Yaas this year
A ten-member delegation of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), including ministers and lawmakers, will meet Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday to seek funds for the reconstruction of Digha and Sunderbans, which were badly hit by cyclone Yaas this year. It will also seek the implementation of a seven-year-old master plan to check the recurrent floods in Ghatal in Bengal’s West Midnapore district.
“We would be meeting Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union jal shakti minister. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier handed over a plan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the reconstruction of Digha and Sunderbans. The Ghatal master plan has also not been implemented. We would hold discussions on these,” said Saumen Kumar Mahapatra, Bengal’s irrigation and waterways minister.
Also Read | After Mukul Roy, BJP MLA Tanmay Ghosh joins Trinamool Congress
In May, Banerjee submitted the scheme worth ₹10,000 crore for the redevelopment of Sunderbans, the largest mangrove delta and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Another scheme of an equal amount was prepared for the development of Digha, a popular beach destination in the coastal district of East Midnapore. Both areas suffered damage during cyclone Yaas.
This month, at least six districts in Bengal were hit by floods due to heavy rains and water released by the Damodar Valley Corporation, which runs power projects in the region. Banerjee visited parts of Howrah district and Ghatal to take stock of the situation and called it a “man-made” flood.
The Ghatal master plan was drawn in 2014. The Centre and the state government was to bear the cost of the ₹1,238 crore project on a 50:50 basis. As per the master plan, several projects would be undertaken to deslit the rivers in and around Ghatal in West Midnapore district, repair the canals, and build a dam on the Shilabati river to check recurrent floods.
