Lok Sabha Debates
Need To Find An Amicable Solution To Chars (River Islands) In Jharkhand. on 10 June, 2014
an> Title: Need to find an amicable solution to Chars (river Islands) in Jharkhand.
SHRIMATI MAUSAM NOOR (MALDAHA): I would like to inform the Government that river Ganga has shifted its course 10km eastwards in Malda, West Bengal, since the 1950s, eroding its banks. This had led to disappearance of around 20,000 sqkm or 50,000 acres of land from Manikchak and Kaliachak I, II and III blocks of Malda. The submerged land area has re-emerged as chars (river islands) in Jharkhand. Most of the re-emerged land has been officially included in the 2011 list prepared by Ranchi in Jharkhand. The Jharkhand administration is trying to take over the fertile land by enticing the local people with administrative and infrastructure support which is hardly in workable condition, making the lives of the people living in the char areas, who were once residents of Malda, difficult. According to the Constitution, the borders between states are fixed and a change in river’s course cannot change a border. Accordingly, the chars should remain with West Bengal. Hence, I request the Government to take this matter into serious consideration and come up with an amicable solution to it.