GUWAHATI, Sept 9 - Citing the recommendations of the Expert Committee on Fluvial Morphology of River Brahmaputra, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the dredging of Brahmaputra �would be a waste of money� as it would �not yield any benefit�.
The committee, headed by former Gauhati University Professor Dulal Chandra Goswami, had stated that dredging the Brahmaputra �will not be a feasible option for mitigating the flood-and-erosion hazards�.
�The committee was formed by the BJP government in February last. Why did the government form the committee if it could not wait for the recommendations? What was the use of forming the committee?� Gogoi asked, referring to the recommendations of the committee published in The Assam Tribune today.
He said the possibility of dredging the river was explored during the time of his government, but not carried out as it would not yield the desired results. �However, we had planned to dredge the tributaries and not the main river. We had even mulled a dredging corporation. But we realized it was not possible� it would only lead to more problems. The BJP government�s move is nothing but a farce,� he added.
