Chronology of Events - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 229

Expert/Agency Year Comments

Prof. Arthur T. Ippen and
Clarence F. Wicker
(USA), engaged by
Pakistan government in
'The Hooghly River
Problem'

1962 They doubted, if flushing with fresh water will be

beneficent and held that at least some of the observations,
made of the Hooghly suggest the opposite. They thought,
the sedimentation in the Hooghly was caused by a
'crucial variable', i.e., salinity. Some of their other
conclusions were as under.
Fresh water diversion into the Hooghly would not remove
silt but is likely to attract more. The present dredging
practices were contributing to silting in the Hooghly,
requiring more dredging. It is unlikely that economic
benefits would justify the cost of the barrage, whether
siltation improved or not. The salinity intrusion in
relation to fresh-water flow increased siltation in the
Hooghly. The complex of problems for the preservation
of Calcutta Port has not received adequate technical
investigation by model studies, simulating mixing and
penetration of salinity into fresh water.

S. R. Basu and S. C.
Chakravorty,
Geologists

1969 We are not suggesting that Farakka Barrage will, or will not
solve the basic malady of the port economy of Calcutta.
We only want to emphasise that there is no objective
reason to believe that a project like Farakka can at all
reverse the process of decay of the Bhagirathi, or at least
hold it suspended. If we wish to resuscitate the
Bhagirathi, then let us do it in a civilized way by first
understanding the source of ailment and then by helping
it to overcome the malady in the way it is capable of
doing. We cannot let the ravages of soil erosion go
unabated in all the thalwegs of the right-bank tributaries
while expecting the Bhagirathi to clear the bed.

Construction of Farakka Barrage

Year Events

1947 The West Bengal Government starts investigation for the Ganga Barrage Project.
Field surveys conducted and a preliminary report prepared.
1949 Investigations are taken over by the Government of India.
1952 An Expert committee, headed by Man Singh, reviews model studies and
recommends a barrage project.
1952-1958 Outcry in Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament) by West Bengal MPs.
1956 A separate cell created in the Central Water and Power Commission, New Delhi for

investigation, planning and design of the Farakka Barrage Complex.

1957 Dr. Walter Hensen is invited by the Government of India to review the preliminary

report; after review, he recommends that India can go ahead with the project.