M A I N   N E W S

Post-NCTC, govt mollifies Mamata on Farakka barrage
Vibha Sharma/TNS

New Delhi, February 23
With the Farakka barrage issue threatening to become another flashpoint between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Congress-led Centre, the government today decided to set up an inquiry committee to ascertain what went wrong and where to placate its temperamental ally.

Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal said the inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the Central Water Commission head would ascertain reasons that led to the damage of two sluice gates at the barrage, fix responsibilities for the lapse and give a detailed report in 15 days.

Banerjee, who yesterday brought to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention that the leakage at Farakka Barrage was letting out excess water to Bangladesh, had also demanded a high-level inquiry by the Centre.

In a letter to the PM earlier, she even alleged the Centre deliberately kept the damage to two sluice gates a secret, resulting in more water supply to Bangladesh than its share — a stance, which, after her not-so-favourable National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) posture, was threatening to worsen the relationship between the Congress and its West Bengal ally.

“It seems there is a deliberate and highly irresponsible move to keep the matter a secret.Only when the level of the Bhagirathi (in Murshidabad) started falling did we realise that something was amiss,” she had said in the letter.

While a team headed by CWC member AK Ganju is already at the site to oversee repairs, the government is planning a review of all 108 gates of the barrage to ensure that the incident is not repeated.

Admitting that the incident was indeed a “wake-up call”, officials also blame the strong presence of Trinamool Congress, Congress and Left unions at the site for the situation deteriorating to current levels. “The incident is a wake-up call. Farakka project is managed by the Centre, so the responsibility for the lapse is obvious. However, there is a complete lack of work culture due to the presence of unions. Due to the peculiar situation at Ground Zero, officials consider Farakka a punishment posting. Still, it is quite strange that no one noticed the damage or asked money for repairs,” officials say.

According to Mamata, with the sluice gate completely broken down, 80,000 cusecs of water, instead of the agreed 30,000 cusecs, was being released to the neighbouring country. This, she said, was affecting supply of drinking water, shipping movement and electricity generation.