Neemati Ghat washed away by the Brahmaputra

Heavy erosion by the river Brahmaputra has washed away Neemati Ghat (ferry port) - the gateway to the World's largest fresh water river island Majuli - in Jorhat district of Assam, official sources said today.
The Ghat, threatened by the mighty river since October last, was swallowed by the rain-fed river early this week, the sources said.
Along the ghat a 500-metre road, a passenger waiting house, over 35 shops and some anti-erosion materials such as concrete and iron pillars, culverts, stones, boulders estimated to be over crores of rupees were also washed away.
Passengers travelling between Neemati Ghat and Majuli's Kamalabari, Halmora, Dhakhinpat, Afalamukh and Phulani were facing difficulty in boarding ferries to these destination, the sources said.

State Water Resource Minister and local MLA Rajiv Lochan Pegu along with water resource experts, engineers, senior officials visited the site to take stock of the situation and instructed that all possible steps be taken to stop further erosion.
Several organisations had several times submitted memoranda to the authorities concerned and called bandhs to pressurise the water resource department and the Brahmaputra Board to complete their ongoing anti-erosion work on or before the onset of the monsoon.
But due to their negligence and slow pace of work had led to the present situation, local people alleged.