Das Munshi: Lending a ear

Malda, June 1: Employees of the Farakka Barrage have welcomed water resources minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi’s announcement that he would soon visit the project site.

Years of neglect by the Centre had prompted the employees to form the Farakka Barrage Joint Movement Committee to seek the involvement of the water resources ministry to resolve pending issues.

“It is a relief that the minister has decided to look into the problems faced by the barrage. For the past few years, all our pleas to the ministry have fallen on deaf ears,” said Prasanta Chakrabarty, who had played an active role in the formation of the committee.

Das Munshi has confirmed that he had received “many complaints” regarding the poor condition of the barrage.

“I have also been told about some irregularities in expenditure that have taken place. These will be discussed at the June 2-meeting in Delhi and I will visit Farakka during the month,” the minister said over phone.

A recent report prepared by the barrage authority’s technical advisory committee has pointed out that the project has been neglected by the central government ever since it was commissioned in 1974.

An excerpt from the report states: “There is a shortage of engineers and it is surprising that the ministry concerned did not care to fill up several key posts for the past 15 years. This is an international project and senior engineers of high calibre are needed.”

Members of the technical advisory committee also pointed out that despite expressing “their anguish” over the condition of the barrage several times, the ministry had paid no heed.

Besides technical decay in the operational health of the barrage gates, the panel has also expressed concern over the condition of the road that runs over the barrage.

The report states that the barrage provided for a four-lane road bridge but a two-lane bridge was constructed as the traffic flow was not heavy during the seventies.

Now with over 6,000 loaded trucks heading to and from north Bengal and the Northeast, the traffic load has become a threat to the bridge’s stability. Experts have noticed “alarming stress levels” on the girders.

The technical committee has suggested that repairs to the existing bridge and construction of the second two-lane bridge be started at the earliest. It has also called for imposition of toll charges to recover the cost of maintaining the bridge.