PWD Minister Ajanta Neog announced that the Government plans to dredge the Bharalu River with the hope that dredging would solve the flooding problems.
“ The Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) has been asked to clear the Bharalu and its banks from encroachment. Next we plan to dredge the river and fence its banks for preventing encroachment, ” said the PWD Minister.
“ What is necessary at present is to dredge the riverbed of the Brahmaputra. It is a huge task and requires a lot of money, ” reports telegraphindia quoted Pabitra Sarma, former chief engineer of GMDA , as saying.
Bharalu River once provided potable water to thousands of people living on its banks, but the river is now so badly polluted that scientists have warned that unless measures are initiated on a war-footing, an unprecedented disaster is imminent, says a study conducted by the zoology department of the Guwahati University.
[mappress] Dredging Today Staff, February 21, 2013