GUWAHATI, March 20 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has advocated for judicious use of water as the scarcity of it might lead to another world war. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony function of Assam Water Centre in Guwahati today, Gogoi said that a holistic approach encompassing all stakeholders is required to sensitise conservation efforts of water and water bodies, an official press release said.
He further said, �Assam Water Centre once becomes functional, will lead to comprehensive management of the water ecosystem in the Northeast and will contribute in controlling flood and erosion and contribute in conservation efforts�. Flood and erosion are intrinsically connected to the economy of the state and the Assam Water Centre as mandated would help in tackling these problems and contribute to state�s economy, Gogoi said. He said that Assam would have gone a long way had the flood and the erosion problems not hurt the state and he hoped that the upcoming Assam Water Centre would be an answer to all water-related problems, be it water-borne disease, climate change and the like.
The Centre would be set up under the supervision of the Flood and River Erosion Management Agency (FREMA), Assam under Water Resources Department and would be funded by the Asian Development Bank. A centre for research and capacity building, the Assam Water Centre, would be the first ever green building of its kind in the Northeast and the project cost was estimated to be Rs 21 crore. The Centre would also have a data centre of Brahmaputra River Basin and its tributaries and a technology centre of the latest national and international technologies.
Assam Chief Secretary, Jitesh Khosla, while speaking on the occasion, said that Assam Water Centre would lead to comprehensive management of river system and other water bodies. The Centre would also work in flood control and erosion management and would be a solution finder to all future problems related to hydrology.
Additional Chief Secretary to the Water Resources Department Davinder Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of FREMA, Dr KK Dwivedi, along with others, were also present at the function, the release added.