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Boulder extraction from beds may be responsible

By Ajit Patowary

GUWAHATI, Oct 4 � The act of removing huge quantity of boulders from their beds may have caused in some manners the present erratic behaviour of the Dhemaji rivers. These boulders had been keeping the beds of the rivers of this valley of predominantly alluvial soil, intact in the past decades, said sources in the Dhemaji district administration.

It needs mention here that the voluntary organisation Rural Volunteer Centre (RVC) has been complaining for quite a long time that huge quantity of boulders have been extracted to construct the approach roads to the Bogibeel Bridge over the Brahmaputra. This has made the riverbeds of the Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts exposed to hydraulic forces and thus opening up a new chapter of disaster in the two districts.

It has alleged, quoting the Bogibeel Project proposal, around 15.5 lakh cubic metres of boulders, each weighing around 40 to 70 kgs, were lifted from the riverbeds and hills of the State, mainly in Dhemaji district, for the purpose.

The estimate of the project showed that around 9 lakh cubic metres of boulders have been lifted from the north bank and around 6.5 lakh cubic metres have been lifted from the south bank. The sources of these boulders in the north bank were the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh. Similarly, in the south bank, the sources were located on the riverbeds as well as the hills.

The project did not categorically identify the sources of the boulders on the north bank. But the boulders were collected from the riverbeds of the Gai, Ghogora, Simen, Dimow, Dikhari, Telem, Misamari, Balibastinala, Dekapam, Silley, Pote, Rajakhana etc. all the rivers having the debouching points along the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh.

Though in the proposed plan the boulder extraction sites in the north bank were confined to river sources, boulder extractions were also carried out from the foothill scraps, and in some places, fresh sites were developed by blasting and cleaning, said the RVC.

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