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Govt urges PM to consider State schemes

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Feb 18 � The State Government today made a plea before Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to consider the schemes that State has submitted to the Central Government on the anti-erosion measures and specifically for land reclamation in the erosion-affected areas under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms.

The State Government memorandum, submitted to the Prime Minister by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at the Raj Bhawan here this evening, also called for speedy measures to consider for funding the project � assessing and analysing the integrated hydrologic-hydraulic system dynamics of the Brahmaputra river basin of NE India � under the Indo-German cooperation.

The project was submitted to the Union Ministry of

Water Resources in June, 2010 and it is yet to be finalised, said the memorandum. Since integrated flood management strategy is of utmost importance for the State of Assam, therefore, this project needs to be taken up earlier.

The memorandum stated that since 1954, the State has lost 4.27 lakh hectares of its land, which amounts to 7.40 per cent of its gross geographical area and 2,534 villages, due to erosion. Around 1,30,000 families of the State have been affected by erosion, which has assumed greater significance for the State, said the memorandum.

The Prime Minister reviewed performance of the State as regards all the flagship programmes of the Union Government with the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials of the State.

He also released a publication � �Assam 2011 � A Development Perspective� � prepared by the State�s Planning and Development Department. The Water Resources Department of the State also made a presentation before him on the problems of flood and erosion, said official sources.

Referring to the widespread apprehension prevailing among the people of the State on the downstream impacts of the under-construction Lower Subansiri Hydel Power Project and the other hydel power projects proposed in Arunachal Pradesh, the State said in its memorandum that the Central Government or the NHPC authorities should set up a technical team consisting of internationally acclaimed seisomologist and other experts on the subject, including some members of the eight-member committee that studied the downstream impacts of the Lower Subansiri project.

Further, the NHPC should form a steering group to advise it on flood and erosion control measures in the downstream areas.

The Central Water Commission should start immediately a comprehensive and cumulative river basin study of Subansiri, Lohit and Siang basins based on the terms of reference given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to determine the cumulative impact of the 150 proposed hydel projects on the downstream areas, said the State Government in its memorandum.

The State Government has also reiterated its plea for setting up the North Eastern Water Resources Authority (NEWRA). It also pleaded for funding RCC bridges up to the length of 100 metres in the State, among others.

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