West Bengal government formed a committee to look into the delay in the Teesta barrage project

The West Bengal government on Tuesday formed a committee to look into the delay in the Teesta barrage project which it intends to complete by 2015. "The five-member committee, to be headed by a retired chief engineer of the project, will also look into the extent of corruption during the course of the project and to work out a 'nett road map' in completing the project," irrigation minister Manas Bhunia told newsmen in Kolkata.

Stating that the project would be treated as a 'special project,' he said Rs 377 crore would be spent on it this year of which the Centre would contribute Rs 349 crore.
Planned in the mid-seventies, the project was aimed at bringing 9,22,000 hectare under irrigation in the North Bengal districts of Cooch Bihar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda.
As per the original plan, the project was to come up in three different phases, with the first phase divided into three stages.
Of these three stages, the first was divided into two sub-stages and construction is still on for the first sub-stage of stage-I.
Bhunia said while he himself would do the overall supervision of the project, a committee of local MPs, MLAs and civic body members would also be formed to monitor it.