West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday and discussed the issue of water-sharing of common rivers with Bangladesh, reports IANS from New Delhi. During the discussion Mamata urged Modi to take up with Bangladesh the issue of decreased flow of Atrai river water into her state.
On river water issue, she said: "Because Bangladesh has constructed a rubber dam on Atrai river, South Dinajpur is not getting water. On the other hand, there is flood when excess water is released from the dam. This has caused huge problems for our people."
Mamata also took up the issue of the Churni River in Nadia district of Bengal that was allegedly polluted by inflow from Bangladesh. Churni is a distributory of the Mathabhanga River originating in Bangladesh. She said Bangladesh has also doubled the import duty on mangoes, causing distress to Bengal growers. "I urged the prime minister to take up the issues with the Bangladesh government," she said.