GUWAHATI, Dec 11 - Student organisations today staged demonstrations on the banks of the Brahmaputra river demanding immediate action from the government to save the lifeline of the State from pollution.
For the past fortnight, the entire stretch of the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh (known as Siang) and Assam has witnessed a drastic change in quality, which has rendered the water unfit for human consumption. Causing an ecological catastrophe of sorts, the turbid water of Siang flowing from Tibet and the Brahmaputra also resulted death of many wild animals and aquatic life.
In the city, members of the All Guwahati Students Union (AGSU) formed a human chain on the bank of the Brahmaputra near Raj Bhawan demanding urgent intervention of the government to save the river from pollution.
�The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of Assam and it�s an extremely serious situation now. A polluted Brahmaputra will jeopardise the entire Brahmaputra valley civilisation by adversely impacting agriculture, aquatic life, fishery, and related livelihoods. Unfortunately, the Centre has remained a mute observer to the disturbing developments,� the AGSU said in a statement.
The AGSU demanded a thorough probe into the causes behind the contamination of the Brahmaputra water.
�It�s shocking that the Prime Minister has remained inert on the issue whereas the need of the hour is to take the matter to international fora. The Centre has prepared a plan worth thousands of crores of rupees to reduce pollution in the Ganges but it has not exhibited any semblance of seriousness on the disturbing phenomenon concerning the Brahmaputra,� it said.
ANN Service from Jonai adds: The All Mising Students Union (TMPK) and its allied organisations staged a protest demonstration on the bank of the Brahmaputra at Jonai (Dhemaji), Dibrugarh, Dhakuakhana (Lakhimpur), Disangmukh (Sivasagar) and Majuli and demanded immediate government action to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, the water of Siang river, which is the main stem of the mighty Brahmaputra in downstream Assam, continues to be turbid posing a threat to riverbank civilisation. According to a report of the State Pollution Control Board, Siang�s turbidity measure should have been between 12 and 15 in Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) in winter season, but the level is quite higher than that.
A four-member team of NGO North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF), led by Guwahati-based environmentalist Keshab Krishna Chatradhora today collected water and silt samples from Siang river bed at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. Chatradhora noticed 6-10 inch thick sediment layer accumulated at the river bed, which, he said, was extremely harmful to freshwater fishes and other aquatic insects.
The team also collected samples from the Brahmaputra river bed at different locations of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts. �We will analyse the water and muddy silt samples in the laboratories of IIT Guwahati and Gauhati University to ascertain the constituents. We would also take up the issue with the Central government and even the Chinese embassy,� said Tularam Gogoi, a Gauhati High Court advocate and legal adviser of NEDF.
Staff Correspondent from Jorhat adds: TMPK (Takam Mising Porin Kebang) activists staged a demonstration on the Brahmaputra bank at Kolbari under Jorhat West Revenue Circle demanding government action to clean the river.
The protesters said the government should immediately undertake measures to make the Brahmaputra free of pollution as the recent development was not only a threat to the environment and the ecosystem of the river, but to the livelihood of people residing along the river.
The protesters later submitted a memorandum, addressed to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, through the Jorhat West Revenue Circle Office, demanding immediate government intervention to tackle the problem.
