Assam to launch pilot project to reclaim land

Having lost nearly 4 lakh hectares of land due to river bank erosion since 1950, Assam will soon launch a pilot project using low-cost technology to reclaim the lost land.  

The new technology that Assam has planned to adopt is known as Zack Zeety and the pilot project will be launched soon at Sualkuchi, a riparian town near Guwahati. If successful, the project would be implemented across the state.  

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the state government has formed an ‘expert working group’ to study the course of river Brahmaputra from Sadiya, the easternmost riparian habitat from where river Brahmaputra originates in Assam, to Dhubri, in western Assam, and prepare a master plan to reclaim the lost land. Right from Sadiya to Dhubri, river Brahmaputra would be “channelized” to stop erosion and reclaim lost land by using the new technology, said Rajiv Lochan Pegu, Assam water resource minister.    

 

Gogoi termed flood and erosion as the top problem being faced by the state of Assam. He said Assam has been suffering due to flood and erosion since 1950 and tackling it has become a challenge for the state. Flood and erosion by the river Brahmaputra has been affecting the economy of Assam, said Gogoi. Gogoi said though many projects and schemes were undertaken in past to arrest erosion, none yielded any desired result.  

The new project will engage scientists and experts of national as well as international repute to find a way out to reclaim the lost land due to erosion.  

Gogoi said the state government was also mulling to take expert assistance from neighbouring country Bangladesh and European nation Germany to help the state arrest the problem of flood and erosion.  

Stating that the river Brahmaputra was of “complex nature”, Gogoi stressed the need for a study of the course of the river to sufficiently address the problem of flood and erosion.