The government, in collaboration with the Brahmaputra Board - a body established under the central government to mitigate floods in the Brahmaputra - had undertaken some measures with a view to mitigating damages caused by floods.
“We are sharing our flood monitoring information and flood forecast with all concerned stakeholders. Moreover, this year we are also disseminating the flood forecast to the health and family welfare department. This would be useful for them in knowing if any COVID-19 facility or quarantine centre is at risk of being flooded, and they can take adequate preventive measures in advance,” VD Roy secretary of the Brahmaputra Board told G Plus.
He added that they are also sharing flood-related updates with the railways to manage train movement in a planned way.
This apart, the authorities mentioned that they work on a number of flood prevention measures throughout the year to mitigate the destruction caused by floods.
Some of these measures include the construction of embankments that are built to check the spillage of floodwater and to control erosion. However, this is only a temporary solution and poorly constructed embankments prove to be a problem in itself, say experts.
A few days ago, in a meeting with the water resources department, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also directed the officials to fast track repair work of embankments in flood-affected areas.
Another step taken by the Brahmaputra Board included placing geo bags in Majuli this year. Geo bags or geotextile bags are filled with sand and placed along the banks of the river to prevent floodwater from spilling over and are also used to check erosion, informed officials.
“We have also put in place structures called RCC porcupine screens which are installed to slow down the speed of the river flow and decelerate the erosion from the bank. Water flows through this structure and thus reduces the flow of the river,” said Roy.
Another much-discussed step to control floods has been dredging of the Brahmaputra River.
Brahmaputra’s dredging was also proposed as one of the solutions for flood control and soil erosion by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its vision document before being elected to power in 2016 assembly polls.
“Dredging the bed of Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri, the problem of siltation will be identified and addressed at the root,” mentioned the party’s vision document.
The Assam government had planned to conduct dredging along an 891-kilometer stretch of the Brahmaputra River a few years ago. This project was also sanctioned by the central government and the estimated project cost for this was Rs 40,000 crores.
The process of dredging involves removing debris and silt from the bottom of the river using a dredging machine. The proposed project also included the construction of an expressway on both sides of the Brahmaputra River. However, the plan is yet to be implemented.
On the other hand, environmental experts claim that dredging is not a viable solution to the floods and have questioned its sustainability since the deposition of silt in the river bed is a continuous process.
Since a permanent solution to the floods in Assam is difficult to find, experts say that a combination of different measures and a holistic approach is the only way to deal with floods.