'Released over Rs 1,290 cr to Bengal under flood management', Centre counters West Bengal CM Mamata's 'discrimination' charge

The Centre said it is working to strengthen Bhutan's hydrological observation network to improve flood forecasting on rivers that flow into India.

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation of "discrimination" over flood management and river cleaning, asserting that India is already working closely with Bhutan on trans-border river issues and has released more than Rs 1,290 crore to the state under flood management programmes.

A day after torrential rain wreaked havoc in large parts of north Bengal, leaving 30 dead and several missing across the region, Banerjee on Monday accused the Centre of ignoring her call to set up an Indo-Bhutan River Commission, warning that "north Bengal would continue to bear the consequences" of recurrent floods without it.

She also claimed that "the Centre provides no funds for flood management and has even halted the Ganga Action Plan for cleaning the river".

In response, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a post on X that India and Bhutan already have institutional mechanisms such as the Joint Group of Experts (JGE), Joint Technical Team (JTT), and Joint Experts Team (JET) to address issues of river erosion, silt deposition, and flash floods affecting north Bengal.

Officials from the West Bengal government are members of these joint bodies, it said.

The ministry added that at the recent 11th JGE meeting held in Paro, Bhutan, eight additional rivers entering West Bengal, including Hashimara Jhora, Jogikhola, Rokia, Dhawla Jhora, Gabur Basra, Gabur Jyoti, Pana, and Raidak (I & II), were taken up for a joint study on erosion and sedimentation.

The West Bengal government has been asked to conduct detailed studies on these rivers and present them at the next JTT meeting later this year, it said.

The Centre also said it is working to strengthen Bhutan's hydrological observation network to improve flood forecasting on rivers that flow into India.

It clarified that "no funding proposal related to flood management projects is pending" with the Central government and that Rs 1,290 crore has already been released to the state under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP).

Countering Banerjee's claim that the Ganga Action Plan has been halted, the ministry said 62 projects worth Rs 5,648.52 crore have been undertaken in West Bengal under the Ganga Action Plan and the Namami Gange programme. Of these, 31 are sewerage infrastructure projects and 30 related to ghats and crematoria.

A major river rejuvenation initiative - the Tolly Nullah project in Kolkata -has also been sanctioned under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the ministry said.

The ministry reiterated that the Centre remains "actively engaged" with Bhutan and the West Bengal government on river management and flood control issues.