A Note on the Establishment of the Bengal Waterways Board

This aspect of the problem received full consideration at the hands of the Hopkyns Committee who suggested the appointment of a liaison officer between the Irrigation Department and the Board whose duty will be to keep a balance by bringing the view-points of the Irrigation Department before the Board and vice versa. [...] It is reasonable to assume that after the control and maintenance of waterways are taken over by the Board the work of the Irrigation Department' will be reduced and a large part of the costs of the new establishment attached to the Board will be set off against the savings that will accrue from a reduction of establishment in the Irrigation Department. [...] From past experience of the work of similar Statutory Boards one may assert that the Irrigation Department's objection based on the paucity of technical men in the composition of the Board is untenable."5 So far as the Waterways Board is concerned we can select for the post of the Chairman a pers-on possessing the necessary experience and technical qualifications and this will enable the non-t [...] The imposition of a surcharge on steamer freights and fares may divert the entire traffic on the Jamuna and subsidiaries of the Western Padma and from the neighbourhood of Khulna to the railway and the income of the Board from this source will be reduced. [...] It is only equitable that some portion of the expenses of the Waterways Board should fall to the share of the steamer companies which use the waterways under the control of the Board.