The West Bengal government will allocate Rs 1,200 crore for the Ghatal Master Plan this financial year and has set June 2027 as the deadline to complete the long-pending flood-mitigation project, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday.
Adhikari said the Centre would provide 50 per cent of the funding, while the state government would bear the remaining cost. He also said the Disaster Management Department would provide funds for procuring land required for the project.
The chief minister was speaking at an event in Birsingha, Paschim Medinipur district, after paying tribute to Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on his 206th birth anniversary. He directed local MLAs and officials to expedite work, saying construction should begin urgently after Durga Puja and be completed before the June 2027 monsoon.
The Ghatal Master Plan is intended to address recurring floods in the low-lying riverine region of Paschim Medinipur. The project involves dredging riverbeds, strengthening embankments and improving drainage by channelising excess water through canals and rivers towards the Rupnarayan River.
The plan covers around 1,659 square kilometres across 11 blocks and five municipalities in Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts. The area spans five Assembly constituencies and three Lok Sabha constituencies. The project has remained pending for decades, with its estimated cost rising from the original Rs 50 crore to around Rs 1,500 crore.
The Ghatal Master Plan was first proposed in 1959 by the Bengal Flood Enquiry Committee headed by Sardar Man Singh. The Planning Commission approved it about 20 years later, and its foundation stone was laid in 1982. Despite the approval and allocation of funds, the project was not implemented in full.
In June, Trinamool Congress MP Deepak Adhikari, who represents the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency and is known by his screen name Dev, had urged the state government to ensure that the project moved ahead. After an administrative review meeting chaired by the chief minister in Kolaghat on June 9, he said flood mitigation was the most pressing issue for residents in the constituency.
Adhikari said he had campaigned for implementation of the plan since 2014 and that the previous government led by Mamata Banerjee had also allocated funds for the project. In February 2024, Banerjee had said the state would implement the plan without waiting for central funding.
The project is expected to benefit up to 10 lakh people, according to an earlier statement by Manas Ranjan Bhunia, then the state irrigation, waterways and water resources investigation and development minister. That statement referred to nine blocks and an area of 657 square kilometres. The state irrigation department has also restored some canals under the project at a reported cost of Rs 341.5 crore.
The government’s immediate next steps are to expedite land procurement and begin work after Durga Puja, with completion targeted before the June 2027 monsoon.
