New Delhi, Oct 27 — In the lower Ganges region, broadly including Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, riverbank erosion has become a recurrent issue posing serious problems, where Tuesday’s meeting in Delhi by the Department of Water Resources, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, is of particular significance for identifying a lasting solution and coordination among the states.
Under particular threat are the border districts of Murshidabad, Malda and Nadia of West Bengal, with riverbank erosion along the Ganga (in India)-Padma (in Bangladesh) system having evolved from a seasonal disaster into a chronic humanitarian and developmental crisis. Every monsoon, the river reshapes the landscape of Malda and Murshidabad with large-scale erosion of riverbank soil, resulting in vanishing farmland, homes, schools, temples, roads and, additionally, the economic security of thousands of families living along the river.
On Sunday, West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Agarwal inspected Malda’s affected areas ahead of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s Delhi visit, where he intends to find a permanent solution to the problem in the meeting.
Malda presents perhaps the starkest picture of the threat. Large areas in this district have witnessed recurring erosion over decades. Officials recently warned that the changing course of the Ganga could have consequences extending beyond village displacement.
Reports from Murshidabad's Lalgola region indicated entire settlements having been threatened by advancing erosion. In Taranagar village alone, more than 120 families reportedly lost homes over a prolonged period of erosion, reflecting a wider pattern seen across riverine communities, reports added.
Separate reports quoted Adhikari sharing that an agreement reached in 2018 between the West Bengal government, relevant water resources agency, and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) to address the issue of riverbank erosion has not yet been fully implemented. He is thus seeking a plausible plan to tackle the threat, emphasising coordination among states for the implementation of plans aimed at curbing riverbank erosion.
State officials have pointed to heavy silt deposition in stretches near Rajmahal in neighbouring Jharkhand, arguing that altered river hydraulics are contributing to floods and erosion downstream in Malda. This has prompted discussions on dredging and inter-state coordination involving West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The Ganga in Bengal's alluvial plains, as noted in official observations, is a “meandering river”, thus highly dynamic. During the monsoon, heavy discharge and flooding weaken riverbanks, and the subsequent ebb leads to land collapsing. This cycle of flooding, silt deposition, and channel migration is gradually eating away agricultural land, settlements, roads, schools, and public infrastructure.
As per a reply in the Rajya Sabha earlier by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, total flood damage in West Bengal between 2021 and 2023 stood at over Rs 16,083 crore, affecting a population of over 40 lakhs, leading to the death of 188 people.
Incidentally, the Farakka Barrage has often featured in discussions on erosion, with various studies and reports having linked changes in sediment movement and river behaviour to intensified erosion in certain stretches of Malda and Murshidabad.
Experts, however, reportedly differ on the extent of its role relative to natural river processes.
According to a ministry statement in the Lok Sabha this April, a morphological study of the Ganga River using Remote Sensing Techniques for the period 1970-2010 by the Central Water Commission through IIT Roorkee had indicated erosion of 4,289.32 hectares and deposition of 724 hectares in a reach of 50 km upstream of Farakka Barrage. It further said that the Farakka Barrage Project undertakes riverbank protection and anti-erosion works in critical reaches in its jurisdiction – which are up to 12.5 km upstream and 6.9 km downstream of the Barrage.
Policymakers overall increasingly view the problem as a basin-wide issue rather than being confined to the district level. The Centre's committee has already completed a detailed technical study and proposed integrated mitigation measures.
For the state’s new Chief Minister, he has inherited the problem from earlier administrations that has to be met with urgency, otherwise posing further consequences.