West Bengal: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday brought to the notice of PM Modi the issue of river bank erosion and how it impacts the lives of thousands of people at the National Ganga Council meeting in Kolkata, officials said.

Mamata Banerjee requested the Center's help in stopping the tragedy and stated that "large portions of the State's Malda and Murshidabad districts were damaged by erosion of the river bank." Every deltaic tract has frequent riverbank erosion. West Bengal does not anticipate this occurrence "At the meeting behind closed doors, the Chief Minister said.

She added that the erosion has worsened since the completion of the Farakka Barrage and that the Ganga has been a key contributor to erosion in the entire Dhulian region of the Murshidabad district for a long time.

“The people living along the bank of the Ganga in Dhulian are also suffering from erosion-induced crisis from past decades,”  Banerjee said. She sought the help of the Central government in checking erosion.

"Erosion and population displacement are still a problem in the downstream portion of the Farakka Barrage. It is advised to create a Flood Control Commission as a method to control flooding and river bank erosion, she said. Dredging, deforestation, civil building, and a number of other human activities are the main drivers of the topsoil's deterioration and the rise in the amount of debris that enters rivers, she said.

She also urged the Center to assist in resolving the issue because "this increases the height of riverbeds and reduces the capacity of rivers to hold water."

The Ganga Sagar Mela, which takes place annually on Makar Sankranti at Sagar Dwip at the meeting point of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal, is only second to the Kumbh Mela in significance, she  said.

"The State government has developed the site and increased lots of amenities for the pilgrims," she said.  She also mentioned the State-initiated Sundarbans Master Plan, which she described as a comprehensive effort towards the sustainable development of the Mangrove bio-diversity area with a primary focus on animal protection through breeding and nurturing of the area's endangered species.

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