GUWAHATI, Feb 3 � The state�s Water Resources Department (WRD) is hosting the two-day Third Assam Water Conference-2015 with a focal theme of �Management of Water-Related Disasters � Urban and Rural,� from February 6 at the Basistha campus of its Assam Water Research and Management Institute (AWRMI).
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will inaugurate the conference at 11:45 am of February 6. The inaugural session is expected to be attended by Union Minister for Water Resources etc., and DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, besides the state�s WRD Minister Basanta Das.
Disclosing this, state�s WRD Secretary Haren Kakati, who is also the chairman of the organizing committee of the conference, told mediapersons at a press conference here on Monday that the main theme of the conference has been divided into seven sub-themes.
These sub-themes include urban flooding and stormwater management, mitigation of water-induced hazard with special reference to Assam, water resources management and agriculture and flood security, inter-state cooperation for management of flood and erosion in the North East India, conservation of wetlands and water bodies for flood and erosion mitigation, efficient utilisation and management of drinking water and control of water pollution and sustainable and efficient water use.
Former WRD Secretary Anup Kumar Mitra, who is also the chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee of the WRD, said the conference will also have two international plenary sessions. Chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC) of India AB Pandya will chair one of the technical sessions of the conference.
Y Imamura, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Hazard and Risk Management, Japan will be the lead speaker in the First International Plenary Session, while the renowned hydrologist and Professor Emeritus of Zena University, Germany Dr Wolfgang Albert Flugel and Director General of the Institute of Water Management, Bangladesh Dr Monowar Hussain, Dr G N Paudyal of the Danish Hydraulic Institute and N Totsuka of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are also expected to address this session.
Dr P K Ray, former Professor of the Presidency University, Kolkata will speak on the phenomena of cloudburst and climate change in the Second Plenary Session of the conference. Experts working with the NGOs and World Bank are also expected to take part in the second interactive session of the conference.
Besides, a number of experts and experienced professionals and academicians connected with water resources management and allied areas are also taking part in the sessions, Mitra said.
On the occasion of the conference, the Brahmaputra Gallery, conceptualized by the National Academy of Sciences, India and researched, designed and developed by the National Council of Science Museums of the Union Ministry of Culture on the AWRMI campus will also be dedicated to the people of the state on February 6, Mitra said.
