Acute developmental crisis in Sadiya subdivision due to continuous erosion by Kundil River

Part-II

Our Correspondent

TINSUKIA: Continuous erosion by Kundil River, an important tributary of River Lohit flowing through alluvial plains of Sadiya, has been a major threat to Panchmile, Bogoribari and adjacent areas in Sadiya, including NH 37 that connects Dr Bhupen Hazarika Setu.

While Balijan flows parallel to River Kundil and meets Kundil at Kaliapani, both Balijan and Kundil together had been creating havoc every monsoon. Though Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal during his visit to the Kundil riverside in 2017 assured to undertake dredging work to prevent change its course and soil erosion, the Kundil River in the past two years has eroded further several hundred bighas of land. Gopinath Buragohain, Safikul Ahmed and others opined that the government must initiate urgent steps to stop erosion by Kundil River which has already rendered several families homeless after changing its course and now is flowing very close to NH 37, else Sadiya will disappear from the map in another decade. Even the bridge over the River Kundil remains half-done, they said.

Around 40 villages under west Sadiya have no proper road connectivity with Chapakhowa, the subdivisional headquarter. The villagers had been persistently demanding for a bypass and a bridge over Dichayet Kundil, but their demand fell into deaf ears, alleged Nripen Saikia. Taking advantage of the indifferent attitude of the administration, unscrupulous elements have encroached upon a good proportion of government land. Out of 142 bighas of Sadiya Civil Hospital, as much as 92 bigha have already been encroached while a major portion of Chapakhowa daily market has been grabbed, alleged Saikia.

Citing illegal and uncontrolled extraction of huge quantity sand and stone from Deopani- Dibang riverbeds on the Arunachal side as the major cause of erosion on the Assam side, the people alleged that the Forest Department in Assam, in active connivance with its Arunachal counterpart, has been involved in major corruption.

Better healthcare is still a distant dream for the people of Sadiya, the birth place of legendary physician Dr Bhubaneswar Baruah. A deplorable health scenario prevails in Sadiya. The much-hyped 100-bedded civil hospital at Chapakhowa is still incomplete and a model hospital at Gumtibeel is yet to be functional, said Gunin Hazarika. Even though Sadiya is a subdivisional headquarter, most of the government offices like Housing Board, Engineering, Agriculture and Irrigation had been shifted to district headquarter Tinsukia. A permanent sub-Inspector of Schools has not been appointed and even if appointed, the official allegedly runs the office from Tinsukia.

Unparalleled corruption in the implementation of Central Government schemes under the panchyati raj system has been reported. Though crores of rupees have been pumped into Sadiya, most of the beneficiaries whose names figured in the list are either deprived or fake, alleged Nripen Saikia.

Also read: Assam news