Posted on November 8, 2016
The complex nature of the Brahmaputra river and its international status calls for a holistic approach through global efforts and use of suitable modern technology for finding a solution to the problem of flood and erosion in Assam.
This was the consensus that emerged at a discussion on ‘Flood and erosion of the Brahmaputra’ held here as part of the ongoing North East Festival.
A host of distinguished experts, including some from IITs and the Indian Institute Science (IISC), Bangalore, participated in a seminar, which was inaugurated by Assam Water Resources Minister KeshabMahanta at the conference hall of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts (IGNCA) here today.
In his speech, Professor ChandanMahanta of IIT Guwahati said, “We have to create a situation to bring in the best brains on the globe to treat the Brahmaputra flood and erosion problem as a global challenge and find a sustainable and lasting solution. The Brahmaputra river has to be a global heritage destination.”
“The predicament is that we don’t know the river properly, because we haven’t adopted a holistic approach to tackle it. The firefighting approach adopted so far to tackle the problem hasn’t helped at all. The Dredging Corporation of India should consult stakeholders and experts before embarking on dredging of the river with World Bank fund,” Prof Mahanta commented.
Prof Arup Sharma of IIT Guwahati observed that the Brahmaputra flood and erosion problem has intensified due to the prevalence of the highest water resources potential and the lowest utilisation
percentage and it might further increase due to the impact of climate change and high temporal variation.
He underlined the need for setting up multipurpose storage reservoirs upstream for augmenting seasonal flow, and optimal ecological management practice for mitigating the problem. For that to happen, he said, coordination among all the northeastern States was a must.
Prof MS Mohan Kumar of IISC, Bangalore, prescribed extensive use of modern science and technology to collect abundant data on the Brahmaputra and its fluid dynamics to understand it better, before taking up holistic measures to mitigate the flood and erosion problem. He pledged IISC’s participation, if required, in the efforts to tackle the menace.
Prof Nayan Sharma of IIT Roorkee dealt with the possibility of using several low-cost models to tackle the problem, while Director of the National Institute of Hydrology, Rookee, Prof RD Singh made an elaborate presentation on how to deal with the problem, underlining the need for integrated flood management.
P Changkakoti, Secretary of the Water Resources Department, Assam, said a model in the line of Mekong River Commission was required to deal with the Brahmaputra flood and erosion problem.
Columnist and human rights activist Prof Sanjoy Hazarika said the approach to deal with the problem must not focused only on controlling the river, which must be allowed to live. He did not approve of damming and embanking of the river as it would be detrimental to its natural flow.
Meanwhile, the three-day festival offered a bonanza of fun-filled activities showcasing the Northeast in all its glory via art and crafts, song, dance and movies, food, sports and fashion.
Earlier, at a seminar on ‘Destination Northeast and Awesome Assam’, speakers suggested that the books published by the NCERT should have more detailed information about the history, culture, people, lifestyle, destinations of the region’s vastly unexplored but picturesque mosaic of ethnicity and biodiversity.
The NCERT can play the role of an amplifier to promote the lesser known but magnificent Northeast among the young generation by incorporating detailed information about the region in its textbooks. It will make the task easier for governments and other stakeholders to bring the region into the arena of tourism sector, the speakers opined. The speakers included former Tourism Secretary of Govt of India, MP Bezboruah, adviser to Bodoland Tourism Partha Das, Assam Tourism official Nibedita Hazarika, human resource development expert RajibBaruah, and tour operator from the Northeast Tridib Sharma.
Source: The Assam Tribune
