Guwahati: Assam has lost around 4.27 hectares of land due to erosion caused by the mighty river the Brahmaputra affecting the overall economic development of the state said Assam Water Resource Minister Pijush Hazarakia.
During the question hour in the state assembly, Pijush Hazarika replying to a question asked by the AIUDF MLA Sirajuddin Ajmal stated flood and erosion are the main disasters caused by Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and their tributaries.
Pijush Hazarika said, “So far, river Brahmaputra has eroded 4.27 lakh hectares of land, which has greatly impacted the overall economic development of the region.”
To curb the soil erosion the Water Resources department has been executing erosion protection schemes from time to time as per necessity at the affected areas and these schemes have generated results in terms of controlling the perennial problem of erosion by different rivers added Hazarika.
The Assam assembly in 2015 had passed a resolution for the inclusion of river erosion within the guidelines of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Further, Hazarika stated the 15th Finance Commission has considered erosion as a disaster and addresses two aspects of erosion which include mitigation measures to prevent erosion and resettlement of people displaced by erosion.
Moreover, the commission proposed Rs 100 crore under NDRF for resettlement of people affected by erosion and Rs 1,500 crore under National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) separately for measures to control erosion in the state.
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