The Mamata Banerjee government has put a special impetus to develop the riverine areas of Bengal and to check erosion along the banks of the Ganga in its budget for the 2025-26 fiscal by announcing a new scheme “Nodi Bandhan”, while allocating funds for the Ghatal Masterplan that seeks to prevent floods in the West Midnapore region.

“Nodi Bandhan is an important programme for the future. In one way, it will help to combat the crisis of natural calamities, besides creating livelihoods for people in the riverine areas,” the chief minister told journalists after the state budget was presented in the Assembly on Wednesday.

“We are also taking special measures to prevent the Ganga-Padma erosion. People in multiple districts, including Murshidabad and Malda, suffer from river erosion. We have decided to implement a masterplan with multiple measures to address the issue within two years and have allocated ₹200 crores in this budget,” Mamata added.

Presenting the budget, the minister of state for finance Chandrima Bhattacharya gave details of the new scheme and claimed that the chief minister had coined the term.

“West Bengal is a land of rivers. There are 39 river sub-basins and three major river basins in the state. The scheme will involve the interconnection of rivers and wetlands to create multiple livelihood options for people,” said Bhattacharya.

Sources said the scheme, once implemented, would create a connection between small rivers and wetlands and larger rivers.

“It will expand the options for pisciculture and irrigation in such areas. Small-scale industries related to agriculture and pisciculture may come up in those locations,” said a source.

Bhattacharya said that ₹1,500 crore would be required to execute the masterplan to prevent the flood of Ghatal and surrounding areas of West Midnapore. For this year, she announced an allocation of ₹500 crore.

The decision to launch a new scheme as well as allocate funds for the Ghatal Masterplan and prevention of erosion in Malda and Murshidabad districts is being seen as a multi-pronged strategy of the government to create new earning options for residents of riverine areas as well as addressing their grievances while trying to drive home the point that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has been depriving them.

While Murshidabad is on the right bank of the Ganga, Malda is on the left.

Bhattacharya, in her speech, said that the state has decided to prepare a masterplan to check river erosion through “nature-based solutions.”

“I therefore propose to allocate ₹200 crore to start this magnum effort. The plan would be based on hydrological models and pilot interventions as proof of concept, which will be scaled up,” Bhattacharya said.

The Trinamool government’s decision to prepare a masterplan on erosion a year ahead of the Assembly polls hints Mamata wanted to retain the support of the minority vote bank of these two districts, said political analysts.

“In Murshidabad and Malda, Trinamool bagged 28 Assembly seats in 2021 while BJP won the remaining six seats. As polls are due in another 15 months or so, the party has made this announcement to woo the two districts and underscore the Centre’s apathy.”