To make Guwhati flood free, the local government planned to destroy 26 illegally built bridges...
Digital Desk: The Guwahati Municipal Council has begun demolishing illicitly built bridges over the Bahini river channel, one of the city's five stormwater-carrying river systems.
The move took place as a consequence of a recent instruction issued by the Kamrup (Metro) deputy commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha, following a more than five-year-old Gauhati high court judgement.
As part of the flood-free Guwahati mission, the local body would demolish 26 bridges that were built illegally or below the high-flood threshold.
Over 100 bridges were recognised by the state government 15 years ago, and an order was issued requiring the GMC, Kamrup (Metro) district administration, and the water resources department to take the necessary procedures to demolish them.
Initially, more than half of the illegal bridges identified were demolished. Yet, the order has been partially carried out for years. After this, in 2015, Debendra Narayan Deka filed a PIL at the Supreme Court.
In 2017, the high court urged the GMC to carry out the decision without delay, assuring the official river width of 8.5 metres and a freeboard of 1.5 metres.
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