GUWAHATI, June 6 - Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta today said that the Centre should declare flood and erosion as national problems. He also revealed that a committee of experts would be formed soon to study the flow of the river Brahmaputra.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Mahanta expressed the view that the Government of Assam alone cannot deal with the problems of flood and erosion without the help of the Centre. He said that the Centre should deal with the problems by considering it as a priority.
Mahanta pointed out that erosion has become a major problem for the State and both short and long term measures must be taken to deal with the problem. He said that the Government has decided to form a committee of experts to study the flow of the river Brahmaputra and to suggest measures in this regard. He pointed out that regular flow of the river Brahmaputra must be maintained to reduce the problem of erosion.
Immediately after receiving the report of the expert committee, the State Government would approach the Centre with detailed proposals on the issue, he added. He also expressed the view that like the �Save Ganga� project, the Government of India should take up a �save Brahmaputra� project.
The Water Resources Minister said that he had a meeting with the officials of the Department a couple of days back and directed them to plug the breaches of the embankments immediately. He said that though the State Government is facing a financial crunch, it should not be difficult to plug the breaches of the embankments. �A few proposals are pending with the Government of India and we are expecting some funds from the Centre shortly. There should not be shortage of funds at least to repair the embankments, which were breached in last floods,� he added.
