DIBRUGARH, May 15 � Water Resources Minister Prithibi Majhi today dismissed media reports about the threat to the historic city due to erosion by the Brahmaputra. The Minister who inspected the eroded sites at Mohanaghat area near here said media was blowing things out of proportion.
�The river did erode chunks of the earth at Nagaghuli, Mohanaghat and Rohmoria but not to that extent as is being reported in the media. A section of people, and some papers are trying to create panic among the people by sensationalising the issue,� Majhi told mediapersons while inspecting the area. He said measures were being taken at all vulnerable areas to arrest further erosion, adding that the department concerned was monitoring the situation. �The city is ours and we will do everything possible to protect it,� the Minister said and asked the people not to panic.
Majhi was accompanied by Dibrugarh Development Authority (DDA) Chairman Bitul Taludar, Dibrugarh Municipal Board (DMB) Chairman Chandra Kanta Barua and engineers from the water resources department.
On the number of pending projects proposed for protection of the river dyke and anti erosion measures, the Minister said serious measures were being taken for early approval of the projects. �If situation demands, we will also seek the intervention of the Prime Minister,� he said. The Minister further said that the department was also working on a master plan for a lasting solution to the dyke and erosion problems.
Reacting to the comments of certain rival political leaders who had said that water resource department was a failed department, Majhi said some political leaders were trying to gain political mileage by standing on the eroded sites and speaking about erosion to the media. They should bring it to the notice of the Minister concerned, he said.
It needs mention here that local BJP MLA Prasanta Phukan and Anup Phukan, president of the district body of the AGP and MLA of Tingkhong had paid separate visits to the eroded stretch at Mohanaghat yesterday and aired their views before the mediapersons.
The departments concerned may have begun anti-erosion works but the people living close to the river dyke are still caught in fear due to the rise in the water level of the river. �The water is above the danger mark since past several days. Earlier, water used to recede in a day or two and again rise. But this time the water level is hovering above the danger level for a prolonged period,� Bipul Gogoi, a settler near Mohanaghat told this correspondent.
The locals here however, are not pleased with the kind of progress.
Several organisations who took part in the public sit-in-demonstrations near the district AASU office here yesterday, seeking attention of the government, demanded immediate and permanent solution to the recurring problem. A section of concerned citizens here have launched an SMS campaign to awaken the people of the city regarding the alarming erosion by Brahmaputra at Nagaghuli, Rohmoria and Mohanaghat. The SMS reading �Wake up Dibrugarh, erosion at Rohmoria, Nagaghuli and Mohanaghat has been threatening to wipe off your very own Dibrugarh. So please wake up and come forward to save your town,� is doing the rounds.
