GUWAHATI, Jan 18 - Noted earthquake engineering expert Dr Sarada Sarma has hailed the idea of dredging the Brahmaputra as a very good one. He emphatically said that this should be done. He was talking to this correspondent during his last visit to the city.
The earthquake engineering expert, who is a reader emeritus with the Imperial College, London, however, maintained that the Brahmaputra dredging would be effective only when done regularly.
He also maintained that the roads proposed along the banks of the river, using the silts excavated from its bed, should be properly compacted. Or else, it will be useless.
Moreover, scientific research should be carried out on compaction of the silt. The silt excavated from the bed of the river after construction of the roads, should be spread outside the roads so as to create new agricultural land and open space. This may help in regaining the areas lost to erosion. But, these areas won�t be suitable for residential purposes, he said.
It needs mention that recently media reports suggested that the Union Water Resources Ministry and the Surface Communication Ministry had told the Chief Minister that the Brahmaputra bed would be dredged to increase its water carrying capacity and thus an attempt would be made to check the problems of flood and erosion permanently.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal later held a meeting with senior officials of the State�s departments concerned and announced that the Dredging Corporation of India would be engaged to excavate the riverbed. The reports of dredging the mighty river evoked mixed reactions among the experts, with one section welcoming the idea and the other denouncing the idea as an unscientific one.