The Torsha and (above) Kaljani rivers originate in Bhutan and flow through the Dooars. File pictures

Jalpaiguri, Oct. 12: The governments of India and Bhutan will jointly prepare a digital map of the rivers that originate in the neighbouring country and flow through north Bengal to track their course, primarily to check floods and erosion in the region.

Chairperson of the North Bengal Flood Commission, Narayan Chatterjee, said the decision to prepare the map was taken at a meeting held in Shillong earlier this month.

“During the monsoons, several areas of Bhutan — Phuentsholing, Pagli Bhutan, Samsi, Gomtu and the adjacent areas of Totopara — are flooded by rivers like the Torsha, Raidak, Sankosh, Reti, Sukriti, Basra, Gabur Basra, Diana, Hollong, Muznai and Dima that originate from Bhutan. The rivers also carry boulders and debris with them that gets stacked in different parts of the Dooars in Jalpaiguri district,” said Chatterjee.

He said the digital map would indicate the areas that are affected by erosion caused by the river, damaged portions of embankments and siltation.

“The committee has decided to prepare the map to get a clear picture of the course of the rivers and inform the engineers who will take necessary steps to avoid damage,” said Chatterjee, who is also a member of a joint technical committee that monitors the movement of the rivers in the region.

“We will take help of the previous surveys conducted by the engineers in this regard and if required, there will be fresh surveys. These things will be decided in our next meeting that will be held in Siliguri later this month. The meeting will be attended by the irrigation officials from both the Central and the state governments and engineers from the Brahmaputra River Division and the central water commission,” said Chatterjee.

He added that the digital map is expected to be ready by next year.

“We would like to complete the map before the next monsoon so that we can take necessary steps to control floods in north Bengal and neighbouring Assam next year,” he said.