Dibrugarh: Massive erosion by the Brahmaputra river poses a serious threat to the Dibrugarh Town Protection(DTP) dyke and the historic Dibrugarh town in upper Assam.
The people of Dibrugarh are in panic after the huge land mass behind Dibrugarh Gurudwara was gobbled up by the Brahmaputra river.
The DTP dyke is just less than 10 meters away from the erosion area. Massive erosion has affected the huge land mass behind the Dibrugarh Gurudwara area since Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Dibrugarh district administration has been taking all precautionary measures to control the massive erosion.
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“The erosion has been started heavily from Saturday. Within a few hours, huge swaths of land were washed away by the river. The erosion has been posing a serious threat to the DTP dyke, which is just a few meters away from the river Brahmaputra,” said a resident of Dibrugarh.
He said, “After 1950, earthquake the river course of Brahmaputra has changed and the river comes closure to Dibrugarh town. Earlier, the river was far away from Dibrugarh town,”.
Dibrugarh town has been facing the threat of soil erosion for the last several decades but still, no permanent solution has come out.
Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan and Dibrugarh DC Biswajit Pegu reached the spot to take stock of the situation on Sunday.
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According to experts, the river course of Brahmaputra has changed suddenly is one of the reasons for the massive erosion.
“The Water Resource Department which was carrying out the anti-erosion measures has failed to control the erosion from the Brahmaputra river. They failed to understand the character of the river Brahmaputra. They should take the help of some experts who know the river well. Every year, due to erosion huge hectares of land mass were washed into the river and people become homeless,” said Abhijit Roy, a resident of Dibrugarh.
He said, “We want a permanent solution to the erosion problem. If the erosion continues then one day the Dibrugarh town will be wiped out. A scientific permanent solution is needed to combat the marauding erosion from river Brahmaputra.”
Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan said, “Geo bags and mega bags technology were used to control the erosion. Since Saturday, massive erosion has started in this area. We will take all precautionary measures to control the erosion.”
Talking to this correspondent, Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu said, “We have used Geo bags, mega bags, type c bags and Porcupine technology to control the erosion. Due to the change in the river course, erosion has started in the area. In the middle of the river, a char (sand bar) area has been created and as a result, the river current hits the particular area.”