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The Government of West Bengal recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with German federal enterprise GIZ, and the State Mission for Clean Ganga (SMCG), to undertake the development of the Ichhamati and Jalangi river basins. Located in the upper Ganga delta within the state, both river basins are currently threatened due to several reasons.
The river systems are vital transboundary waterways in the state of West Bengal within India and neighbouring Bangladesh. They act as essential sources of water for irrigation, fishing, biodiversity and local livelihoods. They are also sources of sediments needed by the Sundarbans delta.
While the German agency supports sustainable development worldwide with a focus on energy, environment, and economic development, SMCG, under the state urban development department, acts as the state-level implementing agency for the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), focusing on pollution control and river conservation.
“In 2025-26 state budget, the government announced a project called ‘nodi bandhan’ with a budgetary provision of Rs 200 crore, which was mandated to develop the masterplan for the river basins in the state with an appropriate international expert agency. We have decided to start the work in the Ichamati and Jalangi basins and have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GIZ on Feb 23,” state irrigation and waterways department minister Manas Bhuniya told this correspondent on February 24. The minister pointed out that Ichhamati and Jalangi were the first two of West Bengal’s 39 river sub-basins to be selected for basin-based masterplan development.
Krishna Gupta, additional chief secretary with the state irrigation and waterways department, earlier pointed out that the agreement is a tripartite one, involving the department, GIZ and SMCG. According to sources, the state government pushed for the immediate initiation pf the ambitious project as a few hurdles may come up after the announcement of state election dates, which can happen late February or early March, and the ‘model code of conduct’ sets in.
The major scope of the master plan in Ichhamati and Jalangi will include ensuring more water flow in the rivers with dredging, bringing surplus water from other basins, removing pollution and other environmental hazards, minimising erosion, ensuing ground water recharge, flood mitigation and supplying more irrigation water, said a senior official. “We will start the implementation work once the masterplan is prepared and gets cleared by relevant authorities,” added the official. The work is expected to be completed within a year after the initiation.
The Ichhamati is a transboundary river that flows for 200 kilometres between West Bengal in India, and Bangladesh. It serves as the border between both countries. The river, a major source of silt flow to the Sundarbans delta, has narrowed down and stagnated over the years as it faces severe ecological decline due to intense siltation, rampant pollution, water hyacinth infestation, and bank erosion. Local livelihoods like fisheries are consequently threatened.
Nearby urban centres — Basirhat, Hasnabad and Taki in the North 24 Parganas district — discharge untreated industrial, domestic and agricultural waste into the river. This includes high plastic waste and excessive nutrients causing eutrophication, which makes water, once suitable for drinking, unsafe even for bathing.
The Jalangi is a distributary which branches off the main channel of the Ganga that flows into Bangladesh as the Padma. The Jalangi flows through Murshidabad and Nadia districts to merge with the Bhagirathi-Hooghly, the main distributary of the Ganga in West Bengal. The river is also facing decline.
Severe pollution from municipal sewage and industrial effluents in Krishnanagar, heavy siltation causing reduced water flow, riverbank erosion, and the presence of toxic heavy metals such as nickel and iron are considered to be severe concerns.
Experts pointed out that the river’s flow is decreasing due to the shifting of the Padma channel, leading to rapid siltation, particularly at the point of offtake. The phenomenon has turned parts of the river into a shallow, slow-moving stream, making it almost non-functional except during the monsoon. Despite being a small river, it suffers from severe bank erosion, triggering land loss in the neighbourhood.
Some have also raised concerns about polluted water entering from Bangladesh, further deteriorating the already poor-quality water. “If the current degradation continues, the river risks becoming an abandoned, dead channel soon, disrupting the local ecosystem, agricultural irrigation and the livelihoods of fishermen,” said an expert.
“It’s an important work but also a difficult one as Ganga water is gradually receding in these two river systems. Under the Ganga upper delta project that the state government has embarked on, efforts are on to increase the flow in these rivers,” pointed out Kalyan Rudra, chairman of the state pollution control board and a frontline river expert. The upper delta project has been conceived with the support of Asian Development Bank.
River activists, while welcoming the initiative, are sceptical about its implementation. “We often hear about several projects relating to the Jalangi river. But the on-ground situation hardly changes. The Jalangi is severely affected for a range of reasons: most importantly, the gradual receding of river water coupled with several encroachments, pollution and likewise. Many have turned parts of the river into private properties by fencing them off,” said a representative of Jalangi Nodi Samaj, a platform working towards the rejuvenation of the river.
“It’s a welcome step if it gets implemented on ground,” said an activist on behalf of a group working for the revival of the Ichhamati. They pointed out that the Ichhamati has almost turned dead for about 2 km near the Majdia bridge point in Nadia. “Moreover, there are issues of encroachment, excessive hyacinth generation, pollution, dumping of waste and likewise in the river,” pointed out the activist.
The master plans should be only finalised after discussion with independent experts and local people, demanded the activists.