Ghatal (WB), Sep 30 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday announced that Rs 1,200 crore would be allocated in the current financial year for the Ghatal Master Plan to mitigate recurring floods.
He also directed officials and local MLAs to expedite the work for the master plan.
The CM was addressing a gathering after paying tributes to Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on his 207th birth anniversary at his birthplace Birsingha in Ghatal of Paschim Medinipur district.
“We will allocate Rs 1,200 crore for the Ghatal Master Plan this financial year. The Centre will provide 50 per cent of the funds, and the state government will bear the remaining costs.
“We will receive some funds from the Disaster Management Department for procuring land for the master plan. We have asked local MLAs to expedite work on the master plan,” Adhikari said.
He said the work under the master plan should be carried out on a war-footing after Durga Puja, and it should be completed by June next year before the commencement of the monsoon season.
Adhikari also criticised the previous TMC government over its “faulty policies”, which he said, resulted in West Bengal slipping to the 31st position among states and Union territories in the education sector.
He said West Bengal also ranked very high in child marriage and was competing with Jammu and Kashmir for the dubious distinction.
“Today, because of the previous government’s wrong policies, we are not in the top 10 in education… We are at 31st in the country. We are also competing with Jammu and Kashmir in child marriage. We have around 60,000 adolescent mothers, of whom 13,000 are in Murshidabad and 9,000 in South 24 Parganas. There are instances in this district (Paschim Medinipur) as well,” he said.
Ghatal Master Plan, estimated to be worth around Rs 1,500 crore, is aimed at mitigating recurring floods in the region by improving drainage and channelising excess water through canals and rivers into the Rupnarayan River.
It covers 11 blocks and five municipalities across Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts, spanning five assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies. The area covered by the plan is around 1,659 sq km.
It was originally estimated at Rs 50 crore, but the project remained unimplemented for nearly five decades, and its projected cost rose to around Rs 1,500 crore. PTI SCH ACD
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