GUWAHATI, July 1 � The district administration today announced some concrete steps for protecting primary water channels and hills of Guwahati, as the drive against encroachment along the river Bharalu and the Silsako beel continued at several places for the second day today. Over 24 bigha of land have been cleared under this drive so far.
The Deputy Commissioner in-charge, Kamrup Metro, Dr M Angamuthu has directed the GMC, the GMDA and the Water Resources Department to barricade the areas cleared under the drive or dredge it properly to foil re-encroachment attempts. Circle officers of Guwahati and Dispur revenue circle would coordinate the execution of this order.
Along the Silsako beel, total 32 concrete houses, 80 kuchha houses and 32 boundary walls have been cleared till today. Along the Bharalu river, 54 commercial and residential concrete structures have been removed and 16 families have been evicted.
For better coordination among the departments and fixing of accountability, the flood-prone areas of the city have been divided into 10 zones � each having representatives from the district administration, the GMC, the GMDA, the PWD, the PHE, the Water Resources Department, the Soil Conservation Department, the Forest Department and the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited.
The zones include Anil Nagar-Nabin Nagar, Lachit Nagar, Tarun Nagar, Rajgarh Road-Pub Sarania, Jonali-Lakhimi Path-Sundarpur, Zoo Narengi-Bhaskar Nagar, Hatigaon-MLA Hostel, Noonmati, Hengerabari-VIP Road-Kalakshetra-Panjabari and Bharalu-Athgaon-Bishnupur-Gopinath Nagar-Rupnagar.
The administration has assured that any construction, be it a permanent or a temporary structure, coming in the way of the natural water exit channel would be cleared. The construction permits given by the GMC and the GMDA would also be properly verified.
On the other hand, steps have also been taken against illegal hill-cutting, with the administration issuing a strict directive to stop any earth-cutting and earth-filling activity in the hilly terrains, water bodies and the low-lying areas of the district till the monsoon season is over. All the departments and implementing agencies concerned, including revenue circle officers, district police, the Forest Department, the Transport Department, the PWD, the GMC, the GMDA and panchayat functionaries have been given directions in this regard. Carrying of earth procured from hill-cutting would not be allowed as well.
Addressing the media here, Dr Angamuthu said that an order has also been issued to stop construction of the much talked about Shrishti Nagar project till October. When questioned about the legality of the project, he said that the legal documents of all the construction activities on the hills or even the patta land around any water body would be duly verified.
A helpline has been opened with the telephone number 0361-2733052 where public can lodge complaints in regard to flood and landslide. Citizens can also send mail at [email protected]. The link is available on the official website of the Kamrup (Metro) administration.
The task of creating awareness about the vulnerable, landslide-prone sites of the city has been entrusted to 10 NGOs. In 19 hillocks of Guwahati, a total of 366 vulnerable sites have been identified.
