Sl No |
Priority |
River |
Polluted Stretch Identified |
BOD (mg/l) when identified as polluted |
1 |
I |
Vidyadhari |
Haroa Bridge to Malancha Burning Ghat |
26.7-45.0 |
2. |
II |
Mahananda |
Siliguri to Binaguri |
6.5-25 |
3. |
III |
Churni |
Shantipur Town to Majhdia |
10.3-11.3 |
4. |
III |
Dwarka |
Tarapith to Sadhak Bamdeb Ghat |
5.6-17.0 |
5 |
III |
Ganga |
Tribeni –Dimond harbour |
5.0-12.2 |
Source: Report of Action Plan for Rejuvenation of River Churni, Nadia, West Bengal, Priority III, July 2020, p-6
As it has been mentioned Churni once regarded as one of important site of exotic fish biodiversity[xvii]. But due to high bio-chemical oxygen content the chance of survival of fish and plants are very low. Awakening to the new realities, local communities of Hanskhali, Kisangunj and Ranaghat established Matahbhanga and Churni River Rescue Committee and they have been raising the issue since 2007. The Secretary of the Churni River Rescue Committee Swapon Bhoumik mentioned that:
‘The waste discharged in the Bangladesh side has been causing enormous damage to fish cultivation. People having fear in taking a bath in the river. We want our Prime Minister to take up the issue with Sheikh Hasina so that waste water treatment plant is set up on the Bangladeshi side soon.’ [xviii]
Major Water Polluting Industries Located Within the Catchment Area of the River Churni
Sl No |
Name and Address of Industrial Unit |
Water Consumption in KDL |
Waste Water Generation in KDL |
|||
Industrial |
Domestic |
Industrial |
Domestic |
Mixed |
||
1 |
Amson Textile Industries , Ranaghat Municipality, Ranaghat, P.O. & PS Ranaghat , Pin 741201 |
13.00 |
0.40 |
--- |
---- |
8.00 |
2 |
Shree Durga Processing & Finishing Mills Pvt. Ltd. ,Vill-PO and PS Ranaghat , Pin 741201 |
9.25 |
1.5 |
--- |
--- |
1.65 |
3 |
Natan Fulia Tantubay Samabay Samity Ltd, PO -2no Natun Fulia, P.S –Shantipur , P.O. Fulia Dist Nadia, Pin 741402 |
3.6 |
0.5 |
3.0 |
0.4 |
0.00 |
4 |
Tangail Tantubai Unnayan Samabai Samiti Ltd, Shantipur, P.O-Fulia, P.S. –Shantipur , Dist –Nadia-741402 |
7.20 |
1.20 |
6.00 |
0.90 |
0.00 |
5. |
Fulia Tanagail Bayan Silpa Samabay Samiti Ltd., Samabay Sadan, Fulia, P.O. Fulia, P.S.-Shantipur, Dist –Nadia |
4.20 |
0.50 |
3.50 |
0.420 |
|
6 |
PMA Handweaves Private Limited, Nabala Gram Panchyat, Belemath, P.O.-Belemath, P.S –Shantipur, Dist –nadia, Pin 741204 |
10.00 |
1.50 |
7.0 |
1.50 |
|
Total |
47.25 |
5.6 |
19.5 |
3.22 |
9.65 |
Total Industrial Water Consumption: 52.85 KLD, Total Industrial Wastewater Discharge: 32.37 KLD, Existing Waste Water Treatment Facility: 32.37 KLD, Gap in Industrial Wastewater Treatment: 0.00KLD,
Source: Report of Action Plan for Rejuvenation of River Churni, Nadia, West Bengal, Priority III, July 2020, p-11
Voice for reviving the river
Sustainable development requires the protection of natural course and water quality of the river. At present, water is considered as a multidimensional issue for sustainable development as the deteriorating water quality of the river directly affects the livelihoods of communities residing dependent on it. In the case of Churni therefore, the local community directly affected by river pollution decided to publicly raise their voice against the river pollution.
Besides Matahbhanga and Churni Nadi Banchao Committee (Matahbhanga and Churni River Rescue Committee), the local fisherman of the Majdia town , a locality bordering Bangladesh in the Nadia district formed another collective organization under the banner of the Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) (South Bengal Fisherman’s Forum) for saving the river system and its water quality. In their meeting they resolved to propel the movement to restore Mathabhanga and Churni rivers through various initiatives:
- Regularly organize demonstration with along with hunger strike to effectively remove the check dams (badhals);
- Mobilise both the Government of West Bengal and the Government of India to take up the issue of cross border pollution with the Government of Bangladesh;
- Constantly keep in touch with Media Conference to highlight the issue and involve the civil society as well as local people.[xix]
Initially, they decided to save the river system under the banner Matahbhanga and Churni Nadi Banchao Committee (Matahbhanga and Churni River Rescue Committee)(MCRRC) along with local environmental activists, members of Vigyan Mancha (Platform for Science) and local fisherman, boatman and other affected community. Gradually, they realized that saving a river means saving the livelihood of the fishing communities that depend on water quality of the river. As a result, Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) under the leaderships of Debasis Shyamal and Ambia Hossain mobilized the support of the local people and motivate them to launch protest against river pollution.
Initially, the Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) launched a demonstration of about 350 fishermen at the BDO (Block Development Officer) office at Krishnaganj on 8th February 2018. This was the first public move of the fishing communities. Major demand of the demonstration are:
- Immediate demolition of the Badhals put across the river bed by miscreants, steps by the government to stop pollution flowing into the river from Bangladesh.
- Supports to the fishing communities in terms of finance, infrastructure and social security.
- Issue of official identity cards for the fishermen as recognition of their occupational dignity.
The fishermen clearly mentioned to the BDO and the FEO (Fisheries Extension Officer), unless immediate action is taken by the authority on their demands they will step up their agitation. After prolonged discussion with the delegation of demonstrators the FEO agreed to take immediate steps to issue identity cards to the fishers, the BDO promised to take steps to demolish the badhals and request the government to take measures regarding the pollution coming from Bangladesh. They also promised that that they will also look after the demands of the fisherman community and other affected communities and do their level best to meet their demands.
[See PDF version for picture of demonstration published by Anandabazar Patrika, 11/04/2018]
Immediately, after the meeting the BDO took up the issues with concerned authorities on urgent basis. Orders were issued to remove the badhals. Steps were also initiated to issue government identity cards to the fishers. A number of badhals were removed. Unfortunately, the process was stalled through the intervention of some political leaders, hand in glove with the miscreants who had built the badhals.
Political interference motivated the Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) to organize their movement in larger scale. Gradually, the representatives of the fishing communities held a meeting at Majdia. In that meeting the fishing community representatives spoke on the problems they are experiencing day to day basis due to the degradation of rivers and neglect of the government, particularly the irresponsible attitude of the fisheries department of the Government of West Bengal. In the mutual exchange of views they gradually get aware about politician, administration and the builders of bhadals.
Within a couple of months they organized a rally on 10th April 2018 and protested against the river pollution where near about 500 fisherman assembled with the slogan ‘Save River, Save Fish, Save Fisherman People’. From that rally fisherman sent a strong warning to the authorities and the protest delivered a clear message to those who had built the badhals. If the government fails to take effective action to remove the badhals, the fisherman community would have to intensify the agitation for the sustainability of the river and livelihood of common people. They also sent a deputation letter to the honorable Prime Minister of India drawing his attention to stop the cross border river pollution from Bangladeshi owned Carew & Co (Bangladesh) Ltd. The said plant which is a distillery producing alcohol from sugarcane located in Darshana, Chuadanga, Khulna Division, and Bangladesh. The company is located inside the Darsana Sugar Mill compound and is under the authority of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC). It is the only one of the 15 mills owned by BSFIC that makes a profit, as per media reports.
The National Green Tribunal and River Rejuvenation Committee Report on Mathabhanga Churni:
Since 1980’s the West Bengal Pollution Control Board in association with the Central Pollution Control Board started monitoring the water quality of all major rivers, canals, ponds and reservoirs across the country. On the basis of that study CPBC identified polluted river stretches in the country. River Churni is among the list of top five polluted rivers of Bengal.
An application was registered before the National Green Tribunal Principal Bench New Delhi as O.A. No 673/2018 on the basis of a news item dated 17.09.2018 in the Hindu newspaper. On the basis that newspaper report the National Green Tribunal passed an order identifying seventeen polluted river stretches in the state of west Bengal and categorized these polluted stretches in five priority classes. The Tribunal directed the State to prepare action plan for rejuvenation of these 17 polluted river stretches. On the basis of the direction of the National Green Tribunal, the Govt. of West Bengal constituted the River Rejuvenation Committee (RRC) for preparation of such action plan under the supervision of Principal Secretary, Department of Environment, and Govt. of west Bengal. The Member Secretary, West Bengal Pollution Control Board became the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority became the Member Convener of the River Rejuvenation Committee on Mathbhanga Churni.
According to experts the major sources of river pollution are: i) discharge of industrial waste water, ii) discharge of untreated municipal waste water, c) pollution from non point sources. Moreover as Churni is not a perennial in nature, during lean season the volume of water became less resulting in high concentration of pollutants. As a result Action plan for rejuvenation of Churni was prepared keeping in mind the sources of pollution from catchment areas of the river such as the discharge from industrial sources, discharge from municipal sources , diversion of the sewage, solid waste management, bio-medical waste management, e-waste management, ground water management, rain water harvesting, ground water charging, maintaining flow of the river, protection and management of flood plain zones, adopting sustainable irrigation practice, plantation on the both banks of the river, setting up bio diversity parks etc.
After several meetings and modifications the recommendation of the Central Pollution Control Board Task Team and the River Rejuvenation Committee, West Bengal has finally approved the report of the action plan in its 8th meeting held on 02.07.2020.
As per the report the major town located in the polluted river stretch is Ranaghat along with a population of 75365 as per 2011 Census. The municipal authorities were advised to treat the municipal sewage and also treat the trade and other effluents generated within the catchment area. It was identified that nine canals and drains are discharging large quantities of waste water into the river.
Details of drains contributing to the River Mathabhanga Churni
|
Landmark of Drain/Outfall |
|
|
|
|
|
|
North |
|
Domestic /Industrial/Mixed |
|||||
|
Chaitanya Ghat |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Radharani Seba Sadan |
|
|
|
|
||
|
Nadia Samaj Pally |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Thanapara I |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Bakso Khal |
|
|
|
|
Source: Compiled by Author from field study.
Steps Taken for Rejuvenation of the River Churni
As per recommendation of the River Rejuvenation Committee, the interception and diversion network including setting up of STPs within Ranaghat Municipal area in understated. However KMDA as an interim measure has taken up by in situ treatment in June 2020 in Sreenathpur and Baskokhal. As per estimate of the experts, the present amount of solid waste of Ranaghat Municipal area is 26 Ton per day. The Ranaghat Municipality has initiated measures to introduce door to door solid waste collection since March 2021. As per recommendations of the RRC, Ranaghat Municipality has started working on waste processing facility including sanitary land fill. In West Bengal there is only one Common Hazardous Waste Treatment Center. Therefore treating hazardous waste is still a matter of concern. Also, there are six Bio-Medical Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal facilities and Kalyani is one of them. All the health care institutes and hospitals are disposing their bio-medical wastes through the bio-medical waste treatment facility at Kalyani. For monitoring the real time Ground water level in the catchment area of the river Churni, tender has been floated to install the DWLR. Near about 87 projects has been undertaken for water conservation in the catchment area of river Churni. In 151 places ground water recharge pit has been installed in the catchment area of the river Churni for raising ground water level. It is expected that due to above mentioned initiatives the water quality of Mathbhanga Churni will definitely improve up to certain quality.
Conclusion
The length of river Churni and Mahtabhanga is nearly 72 Km and mainly flowing in the Nadia district of West Bengal and it has remained heavily polluted for nearly four decades. The sugarcane mill complex and the Carew Wine factory which are the major source of pollution were nationalized by the Government of Bangladesh in 1973 i.e. immediately after independence and they are the major industry of Bangladesh under the Industrial Ministry of Govt. The total area of the company is nearly 19 acre and there are nearly nine industrial firms situated together. The total area of human habitation surrounding the industrial premises is 1462 acre. There are 20 feet high wall constructed to protect the company premises. In earlier years, 1016 metric ton sugarcane was crushed for making spirit but the amount has risen to 1150 metric ton recently. For selling their foreign liquor there are nearly 200 distribution agents and for country liqueur there are 13 agents[xx]. The level of pollution from these companies have affected the lives of people of 120 villages and municipal areas across the border of both the countries on the banks of the river Churni.
The Bangladesh Govt. and the Govt. of India both are well aware of the fact regarding the pollution of the river Churni due to several public demonstrations but neither side had taken adequate measures to stop it. No survey has been made on the effect of polluted water on the crops grew in the sides of river. Many voluntary organizations and NGO along with the local people tried to attract the attention of the State and Central Government of Govt. of India to bilaterally discuss the issue in the diplomatic level with Republic of Bangladesh. A petition has been filed in the Green tribunal by a local advocate residing at Ranaghat and eventually he died. The verdict of the court was there to stop the pollution and a mass petition was forwarded to the Govt. of India but nothing fruitful has been done so far in connection with the issue of pollution. Nearly 30,000 fisherman are without job, the biodiversity of the riverine has almost at the verge of extinction. The skin disease is the major consequences faced by the local inhabitants using the water in various forms .But even after that the fate of the common people is in utter distress. The combined bilateral effort of two countries can jointly mitigate the long term problem of sustainability.
Transboundary water governance is the need of the hour for the development of resources of both countries in a sustainable manner. Most of the scholars blamed India for its hegemonic role in South Asia however in case of river Churni, Bangladesh is playing dominating role. While visiting Bangladesh on the eve of fifty years of Indo- Bangladesh relations in March 2021, Prime Minister Mr. Modi signed Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation especially in the field of disaster management, resilience and mitigation. However, it is true that Indo Bangladesh trans boundary river relations will not be depend on what New Delhi and Dacca will think, but will also be very much dependent on center state federal relations, and the movement of federal state’s position and the political obligations of domestic politics of both countries with special references to trans boundary river governance. However it is worthy to note, that on the 5th Joint Consultative Committee Meeting held between Foreign Minister of India and Bangladesh, Bangladesh Government has intimated that they were installing waste water treatment plant in various Sugar industries and in Darshna Sugar Mill is already included in their plan.
Having about 4% of the water resources of the world, India should have been water adequate nation .However, in 2011 India turned into water stressed nation .The present rank of India is 120 among 122 countries on the water quality Index as per report of the Niti Aayog. Water became a political object of South Asia as besides the river other resources there are 23 million pumps in use in the region. Keeping this background in mind it is essential for south Asian countries particularly India and Bangladesh to engage in water diplomacy and water governance though constant dialogue using the regional platform of SAARC. For addressing the issue of river pollution and river basin management the initiative has been taken for organize Nodi Boithok (river meeting) both in India and Bangladesh in consultation with civil society organizations, scientists and activities initiated by the Oxfam led Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TORSA), and later adopted by an international Ngo CUTS international (Consumer Unity and Trust Society). These programme is designated to build the capacity enhancement to the communities living in the river bank areas to secure safe water resources including dialogue and cross border visits among communities and civil society organizations. In Bangladesh more than 200 Nadi Boithks were held across 35 different location in Bangladesh from 2018 to 2021. In India CUTS organized 20 Nodi Baithaks in 2021 only[xxi]. 21 Similar arrangements can be made to address the transboundary river pollution in the river Mathabhanga Churni, where the suggestions provided by national green tribunal of India can be consider as guiding manual.
Acknowledgement: The First Draft of the Paper has been presented in an International Conference on Politics, Media and Environment: Indian and European Experience, Jointly Organised by Pondicherry University in collaboration with Deutsch Forschugsgephrinschaft, Ruhr University, Bochum, and Jesus Liebig University Giessen, Germany held in Pondicherry University 04-06 March 2020. The author is thankful to the Panel chair and discussant for their valuable feedbacks.
[i] Bhatnagar, Nandita (1986), ‘Development of Water Resources in South Asia’, in B. Sen Gupta,(ed) Regional Cooperation and Development in South Asia , Vol-2, New Delhi, South Asian Publishing, , Pp238-239.
[ii] Banerji, A.K (1999), ‘Rivers of Joy, Rivers of Woe: Sharing, Augmentation and Management of Water Resources in the Ganga –Brahmaputra Basin’, South Asian Survey, Vol-6, No-1, and Pp 39-50
[iii] Wolf, A., Natharius, J., Danielson, J., Ward, B and Pender, J. (1999), ‘International River basin of the World’, International Journal of Water resources, Development, Vol 15, No-4, Pp387-427.
[iv] Pun, S.B. (2004) ‘Overview of Conflict over Ganga?’ In Disputes over the Ganga, A look at Potential Water Related Conflict in South Asia Subba B and Pradhan K Panos (eds.) Kathmandu, South Asia Publishing.
[v] Rudra, Kalyan, (2014). Changing River Course in the western Part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta, Geomorphology, Vol-227, pp87-100.
[vi] Rudra, Kalyan (2018). Rivers of the Ganga –Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta: A Fluvial Account of Bengal, Springer, London pp12-57.
[vii] District Disaster Management Plan 2016-17, Disaster Management Section, Nadia, p-31.
[viii] Chatterjee, Mitarjit (2013), ‘An Enquiry into the Evolution and Impact of Human Interference on the Churni River of Nadia District, West Bengal’, International Journal of Current Research, Vol-5, No-5, Pp1088-1089.
[ix] Panigrahi, A. K., Bakshi, A., Roy, S. D., Dasgupta, S., & Mondal, A. (2014). Inter-Relationship between Physicochemical Parameters of River Churni, Nadia, Westbengal, India. Indian Journal of Biology, 2(1), 47.
[x] Bhakta, J.N., Bandopadhyaya P.K. (2007) ‘Exotic Fish Biodiversity in Churni River of West Bengal’, Indian Journal of Biology, Vol-3, No-1, Pp13-17.
[xi] Bakshi . A & Panigrahi A.K. (2012), ‘Studies on pollution load and its effects on the diversity of fish and fish food organisms in Churni river, West Bengal ‘–A Survey Environmental Life Science, Pp. 101-109.
[xii] Bakshi A, Panigrahi A.K, Mondal A (2016) ‘ Seasonal Variation of aquatic diversity of a lotic ecosystem- A case study of River Churni’ , West Bengal , International Journal of Applied and Pure Science and Agriculture , Pp9-10.
[xiii] Iyer, Ramasamy R. (2010) ‘Governance of Water: The Legal Questions’, South Asian Survey, Vol-17, No-1, Pp. 147-157.
[xiv] Pandey, Punam, (2012), ‘Revisiting the Politics of the Ganga Water Dispute between India and Bangladesh’, India Quarterly, Vol-68, No-3, Pp 267-281.
[xv] Khosla, I.P. (2005), ‘Bangladesh –India Relations’, South Asian Journal, Vol-4, No-3, p-73.
[xvi] Iyer, Ramaswamy (2003), ‘Conflict Resolution: Three River Water Treaties’, in Ramaswamy Iyer (Ed) Water: Perspectives, Issues Concerns, New Delhi, Sage, Pp. 230-254.
[xvii] Bhakta, J.N. & Mukhopadhyay P.K. (2007), ‘Exotic Fish biodiversity in Churni River of West Bengal, India’, Electronic Journal of Biology, Vol-3, No-1, Pp. 13-17.
[xviii] Chaudhuri, Subhashish (08 April, 2017). Save-river plea to PM, The Telegraph, Kolkata. https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/save-river-plea-to-pm/cid/1324553
[xix] SNDRP (17 April 2018). Fisher-people lead Save Mathabhanga & Churni River Campaign in W Bengal, SNDRP Report: Kolkata. See: https://sandrp.in/2018/04/17/fisher-people-lead-save-mathabhanga-churni-river-campaign-in-w-bengal/
[xx] Bhoumik, Swapan Kumar (2020). ‘Cerew Companir Borje Churni –Mathabhangar Sorbonash ‘, Gangchil Patrika, Jol Shankha, Vol 1, Issue 1, Pp. 189-190.
[xxi] Ghosh, Deepmala; Kumar, Saurabh & Rahman, Zobaidur (March 3, 2022). After Bangladesh, river meetings in India address riparian challenges, The Third Pole (online). See https.//www.the thirdpole.net/en/regional-cooperation/after Bangladesh-river meetings –in india-adress riperain challenges, accessed on 26/05/20228.01 am.
References:
- Bhatnagar, Nandita (1986), ‘Development of Water Resources in South Asia’, in B. Sen Gupta,(ed) Regional Cooperation and Development in South Asia , Vol-2, New Delhi, South Asian Publishing, , Pp238-239.
- Banerji, A.K (1999), ‘Rivers of Joy, Rivers of Woe: Sharing, Augmentation and Management of Water Resources in the Ganga –Brahmaputra Basin’, South Asian Survey, Vol-6, No-1, and Pp 39-50
- Wolf, A., Natharius, J., Danielson, J., Ward, B and Pender, J. (1999), ‘International River basin of the World’, International Journal of Water resources, Development, Vol 15, No-4, Pp387-427.
- Pun, S.B. (2004) ‘Overview of Conflict over Ganga?’ In Disputes over the Ganga, A look at Potential Water Related Conflict in South Asia Subba B and Pradhan K Panos (eds.) Kathmandu, South Asia Publishing.
- Rudra, Kalyan, (2014). Changing River Course in the western Part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta, Geomorphology, Vol-227, pp87-100.
- Rudra, Kalyan (2018). Rivers of the Ganga –Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta: A Fluvial Account of Bengal, Springer, London pp12-57.
- District Disaster Management Plan 2016-17, Disaster Management Section, Nadia, p-31.
- Chatterjee, Mitarjit (2013), ‘An Enquiry into the Evolution and Impact of Human Interference on the Churni River of Nadia District, West Bengal’, International Journal of Current Research, Vol-5, No-5, Pp1088-1089.
- Panigrahi, A. K., Bakshi, A., Roy, S. D., Dasgupta, S., & Mondal, A. (2014). Inter-Relationship between Physicochemical Parameters of River Churni, Nadia, Westbengal, India. Indian Journal of Biology, 2(1), 47.
- Bhakta, J.N., Bandopadhyaya P.K. (2007) ‘Exotic Fish Biodiversity in Churni River of West Bengal’, Indian Journal of Biology, Vol-3, No-1, Pp13-17.
- Bakshi . A & Panigrahi A.K. (2012), ‘Studies on pollution load and its effects on the diversity of fish and fish food organisms in Churni river, West Bengal ‘–A Survey Environmental Life Science, Pp. 101-109.
- Bakshi A, Panigrahi A.K, Mondal A (2016) ‘ Seasonal Variation of aquatic diversity of a lotic ecosystem- A case study of River Churni’ , West Bengal , International Journal of Applied and Pure Science and Agriculture , Pp9-10.
- Iyer, Ramasamy R. (2010) ‘Governance of Water: The Legal Questions’, South Asian Survey, Vol-17, No-1, Pp. 147-157.
- Pandey, Punam, (2012), ‘Revisiting the Politics of the Ganga Water Dispute between India and Bangladesh’, India Quarterly, Vol-68, No-3, Pp 267-281.
- Khosla, I.P. (2005), ‘Bangladesh –India Relations’, South Asian Journal, Vol-4, No-3, p-73.
- Iyer, Ramaswamy (2003), ‘Conflict Resolution: Three River Water Treaties’, in Ramaswamy Iyer (Ed) Water: Perspectives, Issues Concerns, New Delhi, Sage, Pp. 230-254.
- Bhakta, J.N. & Mukhopadhyay P.K. (2007), ‘Exotic Fish biodiversity in Churni River of West Bengal, India’, Electronic Journal of Biology, Vol-3, No-1, Pp. 13-17.
- Chaudhuri, Subhashish (08 April, 2017). Save-river plea to PM, The Telegraph, Kolkata. https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/save-river-plea-to-pm/cid/1324553
- SNDRP (17 April 2018). Fisher-people lead Save Mathabhanga & Churni River Campaign in W Bengal, SNDRP Report: Kolkata. See: https://sandrp.in/2018/04/17/fisher-people-lead-save-mathabhanga-churni-river-campaign-in-w-bengal/
- Bhoumik, Swapan Kumar (2020). ‘Cerew Companir Borje Churni –Mathabhangar Sorbonash ‘, Gangchil Patrika, Jol Shankha, Vol 1, Issue 1, Pp. 189-190.
- Ghosh, Deepmala; Kumar, Saurabh & Rahman, Zobaidur (March 3, 2022). After Bangladesh, river meetings in India address riparian challenges, The Third Pole (online). See https.//www.the thirdpole.net/en/regional-cooperation/after Bangladesh-river meetings –in india-adress riperain challenges, accessed on 26/05/20228.01 am.