Bengal irrigation minister Manas Bhunia on Thursday said the BJP government at the Centre was not doing enough to help the state rein in floods and erosion of riverbanks.

Bhunia has been on a three-day visit to north Bengal to monitor the situation following the onset of the southwest monsoon. Several rivers in the region were overflowing because of extensive rainfall in the upper catchments.

“As many as 76 rivers and streams originating from Bhutan flow to Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts in the state. If it rains in Bhutan, these rivers trigger floods, erode chunks of land and deposit debris in many areas,” Bhunia told journalists in Alipurduar today.

“Our chief minister has already sent 10 letters to the Prime Minister, seeking the formation of a joint river commission with Bhutan. She took up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Union jal shakti minister when she met them. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister didn’t utter a single word on the commission when he was in Alipurduar last week. This proves that the Centre is ignoring the concerns of people living in this part of the state,” added the irrigation minister.

He pointed out that people living in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri were beleaguered with flash floods and erosion, especially during the monsoon months, every year. A similar situation persists in Malda and Murshidabad districts, where the Ganga has been gobbling up land along its course for years.

“The Centre has not paid us a single penny since 2016 to adopt flood control measures and dredge river beds under its flood control management programme. The state government has done the required things,” Bhunia said.

In Jalpaiguri, the minister held a meeting with officials of the district administration and the irrigation department. Bhunia said the state government had given its approval to dig up the beds of smaller rivers and streams and extract soil to increase the depth, so that their water carrying capacity increased.

“The administration of the districts concerned will carry out the dredging. The extracted soil would be sold, and the state will earn additional revenue. The exercise has already been initiated in some of the districts like East Midnapore and Birbhum,” said Bhunia.