Staff Reporter
Guwahati: It is a matter of concern that the width of the Brahmaputra River has increased by several degrees in the past 15 years at several spots, except in Guwahati. This erratic behaviour in the flow of this mighty river needs to be studied in a scientific and detailed manner.
As per information available with The Sentinel, the width of the Brahmaputra, also known as the Red River, has increased at Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur, Goalpara and Dhubri.
Over the past 15 years, the width of the river has remained the same, i.e., 1.51 km at Guwahati. However, the width of the Red River was 9.88 km at Dibrugarh in 2011, which increased to 10.25 km in 2025-26, registering an increase of 0.37 km. In Jorhat, the width was 9.8 km in 2011 and increased to 10.2 km in 2025-26, an increase of 0.40 km. In Tezpur, the width was registered as 6.47 km in 2011, but it increased to 7.54 in 2025-26, with an increase of 0.80 km.
The same pattern can be discerned in Lower Assam, where the mighty Brahmaputra has increased in width. In 2011, the width was 4.69 km at Goalpara, but it has increased to 5.15 km in 2025-26, which is an increase of 0.46 km. The largest widening of the Brahmaputra is noticed in Dhubri, where it has gone from 8.44 km in 2011 `to 13.08 km in 2025-26. This is an increase of an unbelievable 4.64 km in the river's width.
One of the reasons for this tremendous widening of the Red River may be erosion of its banks. Experts have been saying that the flow of the Brahmaputra is 'peculiar'. Studies like geomorphological, hydrological and geotechnical surveys may be carried out to determine the causes for the change in the width of the river. It should be mentioned here that the Brahmaputra River flows through Assam from east to west and is called the National Waterways-2 (NW-2).
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