States » EastPosted at: Sep 19 2026 5:53PM


IIT-Kanpur experts to study Ganga erosion in Malda

Manas R Bannerjee
Siliguri, Sep 19 (UNI) Experts from IIT Kanpur will visit the flood- and erosion-hit areas of Malda’s Manikchak, Ratua and adjoining areas to conduct an erosion study of the Ganga and help formulate a permanent protection scheme, Malda District Magistrate Rajanvir Singh Kapoor said in an action-taken report on the flood situation.
The expert team will also conduct an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) survey, particularly in Bhutni and the island areas. The survey will provide data on the river’s depth, velocity, width and discharge, which will help in preparing a long-term plan to check erosion.
Meanwhile, a group of state ministers led by Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism Minister Dr Shankar Ghosh visited the flood-affected areas by launch on Saturday to take stock of the situation.
The team also included the Minister of Public Health Engineering, the Minister of State for Health and the Minister of State for Irrigation. The ministers are expected to submit a report to the state government for further action, including strategy formulation, reconstruction and compensation for affected people, sources said.
“We have come to observe the situation at the ground level in the flood-affected areas. We have come on the instructions of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari,” Dr Ghosh told reporters.
He said Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, with the cooperation of the Centre, were considering special measures to address the long-standing erosion problem and that the state government was taking the issue seriously.
The Ganga’s water level has now fallen below the extreme danger level. At noon on Saturday, it was below 25.30 metres and is expected to fall further over the next few days, according to the Irrigation Department and district administration.
However, officials apprehend that erosion may intensify again as the water recedes.
A senior irrigation engineer said that when the Ganga level comes down to around 25 metres, fresh erosion could occur upstream, particularly in Mahanandatola and Bilaimari in Ratua-I, followed by vulnerable areas of Manikchak and English Bazar.
Khaskol in English Bazar has suffered severe erosion this year, forcing around 50 families to leave their homes after the Ganga swallowed homestead land and properties.
The state’s River Research Institute at Haringhata has earlier used echo-sounder systems to measure river depth.
Officials said ADCP technology, already being used by the Irrigation and Waterways Department, provides multiple parameters simultaneously.
Principal Secretary of Irrigation and Waterways, Rajesh Sinha, who studied M.Tech at IIT Kanpur, has taken a special initiative for another ADCP survey in Bhutni and adjoining areas, particularly to prepare a permanent protection scheme.
Despite several committees, including the Pritam Singh, Keskar committees, being constituted over the past five decades to address Ganga / Padma erosion, the problem continues to persist in Malda and Murshidabad.
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