Guwahati, July 14: The Assam government is closely monitoring the situation in the wake of authorities in neighbouring Bhutan releasing excess water from the Kurichhu hydropower dam on Friday, albeit in a controlled and careful manner.
“This morning, the Kurichu dam authorities started releasing excess water. The excess water is being carefully redirected through the gates to control the flow. According to reports, the weather in the upstream areas of the plant has improved since yesterday. Therefore, the amount of water coming in may not be huge. We are closely monitoring the situation,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
Districts such as Kokrajhar, Chirang, Tamulpur, Baksa and Nalbari, which are situated in the downstream areas in western Assam, have time and again been affected by excess water released from hydropower dams following heavy rainfall on the upper reaches of Bhutan.
As it is, the state government had on Thursday night issued an alert in districts bordering Bhutan after the Druk Green Power Corporation Limited (DGPC), the entity operating the Kurichhu project, declared their plan for reservoir scouring of the Kurichhu hydropower plant.
The DGPC had notified that the release of water from the reservoir would be carried out in a controlled manner, starting from midnight and completed by about 9am on Friday.
The Royal Government of Bhutan had informed the Assam government that excess water would be released from the Kurichu dam, the chief minister said. “We have alerted our districts to remain vigilant and assist the people in every possible way in case the water breaches the Beki and Manas rivers,” Sarma said.
According to the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Baksa, the water levels (recorded at 8am on Friday) of the Beki and Mora Pagladia rivers were below danger level and falling.
On the other hand, the water level of the Kaldia level was rising (at 8am) but below danger level while that of the Pahumara river was steady and below danger level.
Reportedly, as a precautionary measure, a dedicated team from the revenue circle office has set up a camp along the banks of the Beki river and closely monitoring the situation in the vulnerable areas.
Besides, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been placed on standby for any potential rescue operation in the flood-prone areas.
