Assam goes under as Rs 40k cr project stuck
The project was announced by the Centre and the implementation process has been started. The Assam government has finalised tenders for the project.
About 75 people have been killed and 39 lakh affected in Assam's 20 districts this year. Both natural and man-made causes trigger deluge in the state every monsoon.
The releasing of water from dams uphill is one of the main causes of flooding in many districts.
Actor Adil Hussain who comes from Assam's Goalpara district, said, "I've seen this happen every year. This time water entered our house in Goalpara town. I cannot understand why we haven't found a long-term solution."
According to the Rastriya Barh Ayog (RBA), 39.58 per cent of the total land area of Assam is flood prone. This is about 9.40 per cent of the total flood prone area of the country.
Assam and the other parts of the North-Eastern region fall in a seismic zone and frequent earthquakes and landslides carry debris into the rivers which raise riverbeds.
On an average, the sediment load from the Brahmaputra is 0.7 billion tonnes per year.
The Centre had sanctioned a project of Brahmaputra dredging during the first Modi government, but it has not started. The project involves dredging a stretch of 891 km of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya in the north to Dhubri in the south of the state.
The entire project, which also includes the construction of the Brahmaputra Expressway on both sides of the river, would cost Rs 40,000 crore.
This year, Assam received 40 per cent more rainfall between June 1 and July 17 as compared to the previous year. During this period, Assam received 665.3 mm rainfall this year, while the state had received 478.8 mm rainfall last year.
Encroachment in forest lands and water bodies is another cause for flooding. Assam is also facing bank erosions by Brahmaputra, Barak and its tributaries and the damage is estimated to be several hundred crores of rupees every year.
The annual average loss of land is nearly 8,000 hectares. The width of the Brahmaputra has increased up to 15 km at some places due to bank erosion.
Hussain said people must realise that climate change is real. "We need to find out how water can be channelised as you cannot control a river."