350 workers toil for 65 days to reclaim 21k sqm land at Sagar
Times of India | 5 January 2025
1234 Kolkata: Around 350 workers are now rushing against time to fill 63,000 cubic metres of earth and reclaim land at Sagar Island before chief minister Mamata Banerjee's visits to the island on Jan 6 ahead of the Gangasagar fair. The reclamation and restoration of 21,000 sqm damaged seashore required Rs 2 crore.
Previous attempts at curbing land erosion since Cyclone Yaas (2021) proved unsuccessful, resulting in the Bay of Bengal eating away substantial landmass near the Kapil Muni temple. By the end of the previous monsoon, the temple stood around 350m from the sea, down from 1.2 km in 2020.
The labourers have been working continuously for 65 days with 20 excavators and 338 tractor-trolleys. "At one point, the work seemed impossible to finish due to the dearth of available earth on the island. Last year, around 35,000 cubic metres of earth was collected from Sagar for land-filling but this year, we required almost double the amount," said Haripada Mondal, upa-pradhan, Gangasagar panchayat. "The shortfall was managed by 10,000 cubic metres of silt dredged from the Muriganga," said a contractor involved in the reclamation. "We do not know what will happen next year until a permanent solution is found. We have a crisis of earth on the island," said Mondal.
The restoration included reinforcing the existing piling of saal logs and replacing thousands of nylon sandbags, covered with geo-textile fabric, on the affected 700m stretch. Development has begun on the reclaimed area to house a mela control office, police quarters, Shankaracharya Ashram, aarti and cultural zone.
Experts indicated this was a temporary solution for the fair, as the land filling was expected to hold up for about two months before coastal erosion resumes in April, coinciding with eastern winds.
A 2022 pilot project, worth Rs 8.3 crore, by the state irrigation and waterways department, involving tetrapod placement on the seashore, showed limited success in checking water incursion. The Muriganga was also dredged. "There is a plan to tie up with the forest department for mangrove plantations in the erosion zone, and we are in touch with IIT Madras," said an irrigation and waterways department official, pointing at some positive results near Shankaracharya Ashram.
On IIT Madras recommendations, the state prepared a detailed project report of Rs 267 crore. Reported central fund delays prompted the Bengal govt to consider managing it independently. The CM has sought technical guidance from the Netherlands govt.