GUWAHATI, Dec 23 - The water levels of the Brahmaputra and other rivers in the region are not receding abnormally as has been projected by some circles round the clock, said sources in the Water Resources Department (WRD) here.
Elaborating, the sources said during mid-December 2016, the water level of the Brahmaputra river was found to be around 2,200 cubic metres per second (cumecs) at Pandu here.
But this year, in the early part of the current month, the water level of the Brahmaputra was found to be over 4,000 cumecs at Neamatighat. This suggests that the water level of the Brahmaputra would be around 3,500 cumecs at Pandu in the later part of the current month.
This is enough indication that the river and its tributaries are now having sufficient flows and these are not drying up abnormally. However, it is a common phenomenon that during this lean season the rivers of the State, which are mostly rain-fed, lose most of their muscles. And since they are widening their courses due to several factors, vast portions of their courses become bare during the lean season, sources said.
Sources maintain that the lowest ever water level of the Brahmaputra was recorded by the WRD to be around 1,700 cumecs at Pandu about four decades back. This was recorded in the month of February.
The WRD has been measuring the water level of the Brahmaputra with the help of Aquatic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and one such equipment costs around Rs 30 lakh.
The Assam Water Research and Management Institute of the WRD has three such equipment, sources added.
