A Correspondent
DIBRUGARH: The much-anticipated erosion control project along the Brahmaputra River has been launched in Dibrugarh. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded protection project, covering approximately 8 kilometers from Mathola to Mohanaghat, was inaugurated by MLA Prasanta Phukan on Tuesday.
The inaugural ceremony took place at Maijan Mathola, on the outskirts of Dibrugarh, where MLA Prasanta Phukan formally commenced the project with traditional rituals. The event was attended by engineers from the Water Resources Department and local people.
Talking to The Sentinel, Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan said, “The project was launched to protect the Maijan to Mohanaghat area from erosion. Due to erosion huge land mass were globbed up in the river. Our government has been very serious in protecting the people from erosion.”
“In the last past years, the Brahmaputra has changed its course in Dibrugarh. Earlier, the main channel of the Brahmaputra used to be 200 metres away here but gradually it has come closer and closer to the Dibrugarh town protection dyke,” Phukan said.
It might be noted that a total of six houses were washed away in the Mohanaghat area due to erosion in 2020. The great earthquake of August 15, 1950 measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale had altered the course of the Brahmaputra and lifted the bed level of the river in Dibrugarh by several metres. As a result, the Brahmaputra bed now lies several feet higher than the ground level of Dibrugarh town. Most of the time, the Brahmaputra flows much higher than the ground level.
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