GUWAHATI, Sept 11 - Allaying apprehensions expressed by various sections over the proposed move to dredge the Brahmaputra, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said it is �not an abnormal exercise� and asserted that the application was �highly essential� to clear the channel of the river.
�Dredging of the river will increase its water holding capacity, besides opening up opportunities to use the river as a waterway. We have to frequently dredge the river. River dredging is being done across the globe. The British too used to dredge the river which was once one of the important waterways of the world,� Sonowal said, responding to a discussion in the Assembly on the havoc triggered by floods and erosion in the State every year.
He said the government would soon deploy six dredgers for the exercise.
Admitting that it was high time to find a permanent solution to the twin problems of flood and erosion, the Chief Minister said this would not be possible without the help of the other neighbouring states.
