Mamata Banerjee Announces State's Initiative to Implement Ghatal Master Plan Amid Centre's Delay

As the Center has not yet responded to the long-standing demand, which local MP Deepak Adhikari, nicknamed Dev, attempted to press in the previous ten years, of the flood-prone region, Mamata Banerjee stated on Monday that the state government will execute the Ghatal Master Plan with its own resources.

"I've heard about the Ghatal Master Plan from Dev. I have spoken with Prabhat Mishra, the irrigation secretary, and B.P. Gopalika, the chief secretary, about the matter. The chief minister said, "We are taking up the Ghatal Master Plan," during a government distribution event in Hooghly's Arambagh.


"We won't hold off until the Center approves funding. Mamata said, "I am giving the irrigation secretary and the chief secretary instructions to put up a thorough plan and finish the project in three to four years.

The Ghatal Master Plan is a massive flood control initiative designed to alleviate flooding in low-lying districts of West and East Midnapore, particularly in the vicinity of Ghatal.

The state handed the Center a comprehensive project report on the Ghatal Master Plan in 2012, which was anticipated to cost Rs 1,200 crore, after Trinamul came to power in 2011.

The project was originally approved by the Center with a 75:25 financing split between the Center and the state; however, after the election of the BJP-led NDA government in 2014, the financial arrangement was altered to a 50:50 ratio.

Despite Dev bringing up the matter many times in Parliament, the BJP-led Centre, however, did not disburse any funding under the project until 2023.

A person with knowledge of the situation stated, "The Center had informed that the project has been accorded investment clearance, but did not allot funds under the project since then."

During the government event in Hooghly, Dev shared with the audience his ten-year battle for the project with the Center.

"I am putting my trust in the chief minister and the state government because the Center has done nothing for the last ten years." At the ceremony, Dev remarked, "I ask the chief minister to take action regarding the project."

In light of rumors that Dev, the MP since 2014, was reluctant to run in the Lok Sabha elections this time around since the Ghatal MasterPlan has not advanced one inch, the state's choice to pursue the project takes on significant importance.

The chief minister made it plain with her declaration that she will stop at nothing to keep Dev running as a Trinamul candidate this time around from the Ghatal seat.

The Ghatal project is particularly important for Tamluk and Midnapore, which are the hometowns of BJP MLA and Bengal Assembly leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP MP and former state unit president Dilip Ghosh, respectively.

Because of this, Tamluk and Midnapore are crucial Trinamul seats ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, just as the BJP is aggressively trying to increase or possibly quadruple its total of 18 seats it won in Bengal in 2019.

The chief minister's decision to hand over control of the Ghatal Master Plan to the state government is very calculated. The residents of each of the seven assembly constituencies that make up the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency will profit from this initiative. In addition, the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency's Moyna, Nandakumar, and Panskura Assembly seats as well as the Midnapore and Kharagpur Rural Assembly segments will gain from this. A party source said, "With this announcement, the chief minister has sent a strong message to resolve the area's long-standing issue."

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.