GUWAHATI, Feb 1 - Once again, the paranoia of the mighty Brahmaputra drying up has caught a section of the State�s people.
The river, which is regarded to be a major source of life in this verdant part of the globe - the Brahmaputra Valley � is feared to have undergone an irreversible process of drying up because of the diversion as well as the hydro-electric projects set up by China in the upstream areas of the river in Tibet.
To buttress their apprehensions, these circles point to the sand bars emerging in the river bed and the reduced flow it is maintaining these dry days.
However, well-placed sources in the State�s Water Resources Department (WRD) are of the opinion that the apprehensions expressed by these circles concerning the health of the river are not based on facts.
WRD sources said that the data concerning the minimum flow of the river, also called its basic flow, which is measured in the dry season, have remained almost the same for the past about 30 years, since 1987. It has not indicated anything about drying up of the river. The river is generally maintaining a minimum flow in the range of 4,000 cumecs to 6,000 cumecs in the dry season during the last about 30 years, sources said.
On the issue of the sand bars emerging on the river bed in an increasing manner, sources attribute this development to the general tendency of the river to widen its course together with its heavy silt load. Moreover, the sand bars are emerging more in the downstream areas of the bridges built over it. This is due to the piers of the bridges upsetting the usual velocity of the river�s flow. This also results in fanning up of the river.
The river requires a width of around 1.3 km to maintain its normal flow. But at places like Dhubri, it has acquired a width of over 15 km, which requires around two-and-a-half hour�s boat journey to reach the south bank from Dhubri.
At Pandu, the river is 1.3 km wide and at Jogighopa it is around 2.47 km wide. But its average width is between 5 km and 10 km, against its required width, WRD sources said.
The sediment load of this river is also very high. This is also causing emergence of sand bars on the river bed. The Central Water Commission (CWC) and the WRD are observing the sediment load factor of the river, sources said. It needs mention here that the Brahmaputra is regarded to be the second-largest river, next to the Yellow River in China, in terms of its sediment-carrying capacity. According to sources, the river recorded on January 3, 2016, a flow of 6273.55 cubic metres per second (cumecs). They maintain that there may be variations in the flow of the river on a year-to-year basis for certain factors. But to draw a conclusion, there is the need of a proper scientific study taking into consideration the discharge behaviour of the river for a longer period.