JORHAT, July 11 - In what may turn out to be sigh of relief for approximately 45,000 flood-hit people of north-west Jorhat, the district administration here has initiated necessary steps to plug the entire 100-metre-long breach in the Bhogdoi embankment with geo-textile tube to protect all the affected areas which is home to 20 resourceful villages.
�We have acquired the required material which were not available in Jorhat. Necessary works have already been initiated to plug the breach through geo-tube,�said Jorhat Deputy Commissioner (in-charge) Roshni Aparanji Korati.
On the basis of a detailed survey report prepared by the District Disaster Management Cell, Korati said that nearly 45,000 people were affected by the recent spate of floods in West Jorhat Revenue Circle after the rising waters of the Bhogdoi breached its south bank embankment at Namoni Gayongaon on Friday morning.
It may be pertinent to mention here that the administration estimated the number of affected population as 35,000 following a preliminary survey on the day of occurrence of the massive deluge.
After an initial spot verification, a representative of a South Korean company today assured of the feasibility of geo-tube installation at the location of the breach, which may take five to six days for filling the gap of the embankment with a mixture of sand and water, which is technically called as �slurry� in modern-day protection works, informed a technical expert of the Water Resource Department.
He said that the company is known to be technically sound and has long-term experience in protection work through geo-textile tube. Earlier, it was entrusted responsibility by the Government to complete similar works at Matmora bandh in Lakhimpur district.
On being asked about the estimated period of completion of the proposed bandh at Namoni Gayongaon, an engineer of the Water Resource Department said that the necessary material will be brought to the spot within the next four to five days.
�The representative of the Korean company said that they would complete the task of filling the entire breach within five to six days. The mixture of sand and water will be pumped into the geo-textile tube by a mechanised process. It will subsequently take the shape of a permanent structure, which will definitely divert the flow of water,� opined the engineer.
Addressing a press conference here today, Deputy Commissioner (in-charge) Korati said that three new relief camps were set up today at different locations of the flood-hit area and relief material was being distributed among all the affected people, besides providing the required medical service to them.
She informed that 1,150 hectares of agricultural land and 1,200 hectares containing fisheries were affected by the recent wave of floods in West Jorhat Revenue Circle. Atleast 1,600 people are still living in seven relief camps which were set up by the district administration in the affected areas of the revenue circle.
Officials of the district administration expected that the entire inundated area will be protected from floods in future if the geo-textile tube work is implemented properly at the breach site.
