Kolkata, Feb 29 (IANS) The building of embankments in the Sunderbans areas devastated by the 2009 cyclone Aila has been hampered due to land acquisition problems, a West Bengal minister said Wednesday.
“Embankments are a must to save Sunderbans and its population from the ill-effects of climate change and cyclones. The construction of the embankments has started but we are facing problems in acquiring land,” Sunderbans Affairs Minister Shyamal Mandal said.
He said of the 3,500 km of embankments in the entire area, 800 km are vulnerable and will be rebuilt in a phased manner.
“For rebuilding the embankments, 6,000 acres of land needs to be acquired of which we have already acquired 500 acres and we are trying to acquire the rest,” said Mandal.
“The project has a budget of Rs.5,030 crores. In the first phase, 263 km of embankment will be constructed at a cost of Rs.1,032 crore,” he said.
However, Jayanta Naskar, a Trinamool lawmaker from Gosaba – one of the main deltaic islands in the Sundarban region – contradicting the minister, said landowners were willing to give land for the embankments.
“The people know the importance of the embankments and are willing to give up their land. It is not proper to say there are acquisition problems,” Naskar said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier announced that land will be acquired under a special project for building the embankments.
The Sunderbans is the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world covering 10,000 sq km, of which 4,000 sq km are in West Bengal and the rest in Bangladesh. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997.
