Assam faces flood problems on annual basis due to multiple factors and one among these in the lower part of the State is release of excess water into the Beki River by the Kurichu Dam in neighbouring Bhutan. To handle the floods, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Government has undertaken a massive project worth Rs 400.25 crore. Beki River is popular as Kurichu in Bhutan, the country of its origin and it flow through Assam.
Water Resource Minister Pijush Hazarika informed about it while responding to a question by Opposition Leader Debabarata Saikia if the Assam Government has proposed to the Centre to declare the floods as a national calamity at the ongoing Assembly Session.
Hazarika On Govt Measures For Flood Mitigation
- Work worth Rs 118.65 crore will be finished soon. The second phase will begin post monsoon season.
- Three technical expert committees, constituted to tackle the flood issue in Lower Assam by the respective governments of Bharat and Bhutan, meet to exchange data and ideas from time to time.
- To control the flood scenario and manage the water resources in the entire Northeastern States, a pan-region body to be known as the North-Eastern Water Management Authority or NEWMA will be constituted if it get approval from the Centre. A proposal has been sent.
- The Himanta Biswa Sarma Government is getting financial support from the Centre as well as the global institutions like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. Many initiatives have been implemented in the flood-prone regions of Assam.
- The Centre haven’t declared Assam floods as a national calamity, though, its continuous help has assisted the State Government in handling the issue in a massive way.
- Proposals have been made to form Storage Reservoirs to store excess flood water in multiple locations. Stored water will be diverted to agricultural land.
