The Ghatal Master Plan received a fresh funding and implementation push on Wednesday, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announcing that the state has sanctioned ₹1,200 crore and that most of the work is expected to be completed by June next year. The announcement came during a visit to flood-affected Ghatal in West Bengal, where the chief minister also reviewed inundated areas by helicopter before addressing a public meeting at Birsingha village.
Adhikari said the Centre and the state would contribute 50% each to the plan, while the disaster management force would also provide some funds. He said land acquisition had begun and directed the legislators from Daspur and Ghatal to monitor the work. According to the report by Sangbad Pratidin – Bengal, he said full-scale work would begin after the Puja period and that implementation should be advanced by June.
The Ghatal Master Plan is intended to address the region’s recurring flood problem, which affects areas linked to the Shilabati, Kangsabati and Jhumi rivers, as well as branches of the Dwarakeswar river. Ghatal is a low-lying riverine area where flooding has remained a recurring feature during the monsoon. The chief minister’s announcement was made against the backdrop of another season in which large parts of the region were reported to have been inundated.
The report attributes the area’s vulnerability to the condition of old embankments built during the zamindari period. Local landholders had historically constructed circuit embankments to protect low-lying areas and expand cultivable land. Although the zamindari system has ended, many of those embankments remain in place. Poor maintenance has left sections vulnerable to breaches, which are identified in the report as a major cause of annual flooding in Ghatal.
River siltation has added to the problem. Sediment carried during high tides is unable to spread beyond the embankments and instead accumulates in the river channels. This has gradually reduced the water-carrying capacity of the rivers, increasing the region’s exposure to flooding. The master plan was conceived to address this combined problem of weak embankments and declining river capacity, but its implementation had progressed slowly under the previous government, according to the supplied report.
The newly announced funding is expected to cover the next phase of the plan, although the report does not provide a detailed project-wise allocation, construction schedule or list of works. It also does not specify the total cost of the master plan, the number of embankment sections to be repaired, or the land area involved in acquisition. These details will be important for tracking whether the announced June timeline covers the completion of individual works or a substantial phase of the overall project.
Adhikari also ordered officials to prepare a list of kutcha houses near the Ganga. The state government, he said, would provide ₹1.8 lakh to each owner of such a house, with an assurance that the assistance would be released quickly. The report does not state how many houses will qualify or whether the assistance is linked directly to the master plan’s flood-control works.
The immediate next steps identified in the announcement are the continuation of land acquisition, monitoring by the Daspur and Ghatal legislators, and the start of full-scale work after the Puja period. The state has said that most of the Ghatal Master Plan work should be advanced by June next year.
