SILAPATHAR, June 10 � The massive erosion caused by the Brahmaputra is posing a threat to some riverine areas in Dhemaji district and creating fears in the minds of the people residing along the river banks near Jonai, Sengajan and Muktyar.
Though the State Water Resources Department recently started the works to install bamboo and concrete porcupines at some places, the erosion along a one-kilometre stretch under the Muktyar panchayat and at Singajan has caused a great deal of concern to the people of more than 100 villages. Continuous rainfall since the last few days has raised their fears.
Due to the rise in the water level of the Brahmaputra, erosion has increased, engulfing new areas. If protection works are not undertaken on a war footing, any breach of the dyke at Muktyar will not only affect Dhemaji district but will also pose a threat to the Dhakuakhana subdivision of Lakhimpur district in a repeat of the disaster witnessed during the 1996 floods when a dyke was breached at Panbari village under the Muktyar panchayat.
When contacted, Mising Autonomous Council member of Muktyar constituency Pratap Chandra Taye claimed that he had already moved the Water Resources Department, seeking appropriate action in this regard.
Lakhinath Doley, a villager of Singajan, said that nearly seven villages and an LP school have already been engulfed by the surging waters of the Brahmaputra river. Doley alleged that the public representatives do not pay any serious attention to tackling the erosion problem.
