GUWAHATI, Sept 1 - The Brahmaputra Board is in a restructuring mission. It is spreading its operational areas to other NE States and also to Sikkim and North Bengal. This is being done in a bid to do away with its existing image of an Assam-centric organisation and to �increase its foot-print in the entire NE region, Sikkim and North Bengal�. For, the rivers of these States and areas are connected with the Brahmaputra and the Barak river systems of Assam.
The Board is also trying to emerge as a coordinator for river basin and water resources management in the NE region, besides bringing it closer to the people of these States and areas.
Disclosing this, highly placed sources in the Brahmaputra Board told this correspondent here today that with its increased foot-print in the above States and areas, the Board would be able to study the Brahmaputra and the Barak tributaries thoroughly.
With this aim in view, the Board has proposed to set up its Deputy Chief Engineers� offices in Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and North Bengal (at Jalpaiguri), besides Assam. The Board is setting up its Superintending Engineers�
offices at Imphal, Shillong, Aizwal, Dimapur and Gangtok for the purpose.
Sources, however, maintained that the restructuring of the Board will be done without incurring any additional expenditure on its establishment. The Board is now getting a budgetary allocation of Rs 130 crore. The important projects, like the one meant for the Rs 200-crore Majuli island protection, are being funded by the Union Ministry for Development of North East Region (DoNER). In case the turn-around in Board activities becomes visible, then other agencies are expected to come forward to extend financial support to its projects, sources said.
Commenting on the approach of the Board towards managing the Brahmaputra and the Barak, sources said, �We must go from parts to the whole, while studying the Brahmaputra and the Barak, since the tributaries of these rivers are also rivers of good size, good discharge and heavy loads of silt.
�If the tributaries are not studied thoroughly, the Brahmaputra and the Barak will remain mysterious,� sources said.
Also, the Board is signing a memorandum of understanding with the North East Space Application Centre (NESAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the use of satellite imagery and space technology in river modeling and project investigation, covering all the rivers of the NE region.
The Board is laying emphasis also on the Water Resources Department (WRD) of the above States for better river basin management.
In its bid to become a coordinator for river basin and water resources management in the NE region, the Board is holding a day-long seminar on synergy with other organisations for water management issues in the Brahmaputra and the Barak basins on September 27, 2018, sources said.
GUWAHATI, Sept 1 - The Brahmaputra Board is in a restructuring mission. It is spreading its operational areas to other NE States and also to Sikkim and North Bengal. This is being done in a bid to do away with its existing image of an Assam-centric organisation and to �increase its foot-print in the entire NE region, Sikkim and North Bengal�. For, the rivers of these States and areas are connected with the Brahmaputra and the Barak river systems of Assam.
The Board is also trying to emerge as a coordinator for river basin and water resources management in the NE region, besides bringing it closer to the people of these States and areas.
Disclosing this, highly placed sources in the Brahmaputra Board told this correspondent here today that with its increased foot-print in the above States and areas, the Board would be able to study the Brahmaputra and the Barak tributaries thoroughly.
With this aim in view, the Board has proposed to set up its Deputy Chief Engineers� offices in Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and North Bengal (at Jalpaiguri), besides Assam. The Board is setting up its Superintending Engineers�
offices at Imphal, Shillong, Aizwal, Dimapur and Gangtok for the purpose.
Sources, however, maintained that the restructuring of the Board will be done without incurring any additional expenditure on its establishment. The Board is now getting a budgetary allocation of Rs 130 crore. The important projects, like the one meant for the Rs 200-crore Majuli island protection, are being funded by the Union Ministry for Development of North East Region (DoNER). In case the turn-around in Board activities becomes visible, then other agencies are expected to come forward to extend financial support to its projects, sources said.
Commenting on the approach of the Board towards managing the Brahmaputra and the Barak, sources said, �We must go from parts to the whole, while studying the Brahmaputra and the Barak, since the tributaries of these rivers are also rivers of good size, good discharge and heavy loads of silt.
�If the tributaries are not studied thoroughly, the Brahmaputra and the Barak will remain mysterious,� sources said.
Also, the Board is signing a memorandum of understanding with the North East Space Application Centre (NESAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the use of satellite imagery and space technology in river modeling and project investigation, covering all the rivers of the NE region.
The Board is laying emphasis also on the Water Resources Department (WRD) of the above States for better river basin management.
In its bid to become a coordinator for river basin and water resources management in the NE region, the Board is holding a day-long seminar on synergy with other organisations for water management issues in the Brahmaputra and the Barak basins on September 27, 2018, sources said.
