The Indian Government and the Asian Development Bank or ADB have stepped up together to strengthen management of flood and riverbank erosion risk covering distance of 650 kilometres long main stem of Assam’s Brahmaputra River by inking a $200 million loan agreement.
Union Finance Ministry’s Economic Affairs Department Joint Secretary Juhi Mukherjee and ADB’s India Resident Mission Deputy Director Hoe Yun Jeong signed the loan deal for the Climate Resilient Brahmaputra Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Project.
The ADB-funded projects, including Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Programme between 2010 and 2020 and in Bangladesh, have experienced success. It inspired to initiate the current project, which will expectedly tackle recurrent flooding and prevailing riverbank erosion of River Brahmaputra.
Juhi Mukherjee asserted the project will help in bringing massive stabilisation in areas hit by the high flooding and erosion caused by Brahmaputra and will make Assam’s disaster resilience robust.
ADB will persistently implement its adaptive, cost-effective and systematic river stabilisation approach to manage Brahmaputra and strengthen the capacity of State agencies and affected communities while deploying riverbank protection technology through this transformative project, mentioned Hoe Yun Jeong.
The project will secure living spaces, support livelihoods, generate job opportunities and improve the river’s navigability as 60 km of riverbanks will be stabilized, 32 km of pro-siltation measures will be installed and 4 km of climate-resilient flood embankments will be built in five high priority districts of Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Kamrup Rural, Morigaon and Tinsukia.
About 1 million people, including farmers and women, will be benefitted from the project through disaster-resilient economic activities and expansion of crop area by about 50,000 hectares.
