DIBRUGARH, May 19 � The Asam Sahitya Sabha (ASS) has observed that the issue of flood and erosion has not been taken seriously by the governments at the State and Centre. The literary body made this remark after visiting the eroded stretches in Nagaghuli and Rohomoria on May 17 morning.
Later, addressing the mediapersons, Rongbong Terang, president of the Sabha, said that checking erosion in these stretches was not possible with mere human hands. Terang, who led the visiting team was referring to some forty labourers whom the concerned department has engaged for placing spurs and for the purpose of stocking caged blasted boulders. Going by the gravity of erosion, Terang said, government should initiate concrete and scientific measures to arrest the erosion immediately. � The works should take off in a warfooting,� he underlined.
Asam Sahitya Sabha also reiterated the demand for declaring flood and erosion as national problem. The State government should pressurise the Centre to recognize flood and erosion of the State as natural calamity and declare it as national problem, the he said. Dr Parmananda Rajbongshi, the general secretary of the literary body said that the Sabha would meet the Prime Minister and apprise him of the problem yet again. He said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced measures for checking erosion after his visit to Rohmoria in 2006 but the assurance failed to get materialised for political reasons. Rajbongshi also said that Asam Sahitya Sabha would meet other concerned union ministers to discuss the matter.
In another display of discontentment, the members from the town unit of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), on Monday staged sit-in-demonstration at the middle entrance of the Chowkidinghee playground, criticising the Water Resources department and the State government for failing to check erosion at Mohanaghat, Nagaghuli, Bogibeel and Rohomoria.
In a memorandum later submitted to the Governor through the deputy commissioner, the town unit of the AGP demanded speedy steps to protect the Dibrugarh township and its adjoining areas from the perennial flood problem and large scale erosion. Other demands of the AGP include immediate scientific measures for checking erosion, entrusting protection works to the district administration, eviction of encroachers along the river bank of Brahmaputra and an enquiry to find out the culprits who have stolen wooden spurs from river banks.
