GUWAHATI: Erosion was a graver problem in Assam compared to floods as it resulted in permanent land loss and crippled a family”, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Wednesday.
“It is an area where much importance has to be accorded by the Central Government and the Brahmaputra Board”, Gogoi said at the 6th High Powered Review Board Meeting of Brahmaputra Board here.
He said over eight lakh people had been rendered homeless and over 4 lakh hectares washed away by Brahmaputra.
Calling for a holistic approach towards solving the problem, the Chief Minister lamented that though the Brahmaputra Board had been set up as a multi-purpose body, it has confined its activities to limited works.
“The Board must gear up its activities in a big way and come up with projects and schemes to control the twin problems of floods and erosion in the State and the North East as a whole,” he added.
Gogoi also urged the Board and the Central Water Commission to come up with a strategy as adopted by the Bangladesh Government to channelise the river for mitigating the problem of erosion.
“The strategy to mitigate the problem of erosion of Brahmaputra river, called Jamuna in Bangladesh, has to be replicated by us to contain the erosion problem in Assam and elsewhere in the region,” he said.
The Chief Minister who had been given a presentation by the Water Resources Department in Bangladesh during his visit there last year, said he would arrange a meeting between the two water resources bodies if required.
Referring to the delay in the constitution of the North East Water Regulatory Authority (NEWRA) following objection by Arunachal Pradesh Government, Gogoi said, the Centre must initiate action to set up “some sort of an authority to deal with the problems of floods and erosion in the region”.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal said though the Central Government has no role to play in water related issues concerning the States as water is a state subject, it has been acting as a catalyst for ironing out the differences.
Bansal called for a holistic approach towards integrated development of water resources and management of ground water systems. He regretted that only Rs 3,000 crore out of Rs 8,000 crore allocated in the 11th Plan for flood management has been utilised by the State Governments of the region.
Stressing on the need for restructuring and revamping of the Brahmaputra Board, Bansal said, “A nodal group has already been constituted to look into all aspects concerning restructuring of the Brahmaputra Board with a wider mandate as a basin level authority”.
The Brahmaputra Board has to brace up to face the major challenges before it and has to emerge as a vibrant organisation for the benefit of the entire North East region, including Sikkim, he added. (PTI)