Posted on December 14, 2017
By Hiranya Barman, The Telegraph
Former professor of civil engineering at Alaska University Aravind Phukan on Tuesday recommended dredging of the Brahmaputra and at least three channels from it to prevent floods and erosion.
He was speaking at an international seminar on Landslides and Riverbank Erosion organised by Assam Down Town University here. River experts from China, Japan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Dibrugarh universities took part in it. Phukan laid stress on diverting the river current to prevent erosion. “New technologies like use of concrete slabs and cellular confinement system, if implemented on the river banks, can reduce erosion to a great extent,” he said.
Hemanta Hazarika, an engineer from Assam who teaches at Kyushu University in Japan, said technologies to prevent erosion and landslides should involve cost reduction, environment protection and disaster mitigation.
He said groundwater is responsible for landslides and erosion. Monitoring devices like rain gauge, piezometer, extensometer and data logger can be useful while predicting a landslide, he added.
“The data could be transmitted to a server and forwarded to mobile phones for updates. Soil water probe is also necessary. Use of locally available materials, industrial waste materials and development of early warning system can be effective in risk management,” he said.
“Pieces of tyres can be placed between stones and granules on river banks. The tyres absorb the shock of the current hitting the bank,” he added.
Source: The Telegraph
