With the growing importance of Assam as the gateway to the ASEAN countries, the centre is planning to increase the number of flights to 300 in the Borjhar airport. Currently there are 75 flights operating from the Borjhar airport.
Assam Governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi on Saturday has said, “There is a lot of planning going on to improve the connectivity by increasing the number of flights to 300 in Borjhar airport.”
“A number of Union Ministers have visited Assam in the last few months which indicate that a lot of development plans are underway,” he added.
He was addressing the first Annual Convention of Delhi Alumni Association of Assam.
The Governor launched a website called AssamFloods.org and released a report on Red River series which will bridge the gap in the existing knowledge base on the river Brahmaputra on the occasion.
The members of Delhi Alumni Association of Assam (DAAA) organized plenary sessions on ‘Red River’ and ‘Imagining Axom’ as part of the first Annual Convention.
During the session on ‘Red River’, Supreme Court lawyer Krishna Sharma said, “Advocacy is an important element and it plays a crucial role for the Brahmaputra cause. Contrary to the multiple initiatives of government agencies, she also pointed out that dredging is not the solution to save the river. Rather, ‘corrective dredging’ in selected areas would be the right approach.”
Highlighting the need for flood forecasting, IIT Roorkee Prof. Nayan Sharma said, “Currently, the government measures precipitation twice a day. Given that rainfall is one of the main causes of flood, we need to adopt the proposed Global Precipitation Measurement which would enable us to get reports in every 3 hours.”
Professor Chandan Mahanta of IIT- Guwahati presented his talk on the topic “Healthy Luit…Happy Oxom.” He pointed out saying, “We need to look at the river beyond flood and erosion as a huge hydrological system by using the smart approach of data analytics.”
With the recent rise in flash floods attributed to cloud bursting and climate change, Dr Partha Jyoti Das pointed out that, institutional reforms are under-performing and there is a need to adopt resilience-building framework.
As part of the event, cultural programme and textile presentation was also held.
The Delhi Alumni Association of Assam, started in 2014, is a common platform for the alumni of different colleges and universities of Delhi with roots in Assam and plans to develop the forum as a think-tank. The Red River talk series is one of its flagship projects.