9/AS/S/O
ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI, 5 DEC 07
Anti-erosion projects at four reaches of Brahmaputra mooted
By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Dec 4 – The draft pre-feasibility report of the Phase-I Project Preparation
Technical Assistance (PPTA) for the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-assisted NorthEastern Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Management Project (NEIFREM),
Assam, has been submitted to the governments of Assam and India.
It has suggested anti-riverbank erosion projects at four reaches of the Brahmaputra,
namely–Dibrugarh (25 km approx), Matmara (10 km approx), Bankowal (upstream of the
Kaziranga National Park; 30 kms approx) and Palashbari-Jorshimolu (40 kms approx)
with an estimated investment of US $ 150 million being extended by the ADB as loan
assistance based on the feasibility study. The Central government will treat ninety per
cent of this loan as grant, while the rest ten per cent will be treated as a loan to be repaid
by the State.
It needs mention here that the PPTA team’s projected loss of property during the next 30
years, if anti-erosion measures on these reaches are not taken up on priority basis, is
staggering. According to the projected estimate, Dibrugarh will lose property worth Rs 85
crore, while Palashbari will lose around Rs 676 crore. The loss to property in BankowalKaziranga area will be around Rs 118 crore and the same in Matmara area is projected to
be around Rs 39 crore during the period.
After the techno-economic clearance from the Central government and the acceptance by
the ADB, the implementation of the projects will start. However, prior to the finalisation
of the projects, the PPTA team engaged by the ADB will prepare the feasibility report for
the phase-II of the projects and it is expected to be complete latest by May next.
Following this, the State Water Resources Department will prepare the Detailed Project
Report (DPR) by October 2008.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, principal water resources specialist of
the ADB, Kenichi Yokoyama told newsmen that funds from the ADB would start coming
by October/November next year and the project implementation was expected to start
between 2008-09. The projects will require seven to eight years for completion, he said.
Addressing newsmen, Knut Oberhagemann, a river and flood management specialist and
the leader of the PPTA team said that the Brahmaputra had been widening and according
to a survey conducted in 2006 by the North East Space Application Centre of the ISRO,
the river had eroded away 6,080 sq km area.
According to an analysis done by Prof Jogen Sarma of the Department of Applied
Geology, Dibrugarh University, the river had eroded an area of 3,870 sq km between
1912 and 1918. And, in a survey he conducted later on, Prof Sarma found that the river
had eroded 4,850 sq km between 1963 and 1975.
Moreover, the phenomenon of widening of the river has also led to destruction of floodprotection measures in various places. Due to negligence shown to anti-erosion measures,
along the bank line of the river in Palashbari area, the entire town of Palashbari has now
been eliminated, said the ADB team leader.
This is why, the PPTA team has laid stress on anti-erosion projects on a priority basis, he
said, adding, the project would have a participatory approach.
Advisor to the state government on the projects, A K Mitra, also a former secretary of the
Water Resources Department, said that priority to the four reaches of Dibruagrh,
Matmara, Bankowal and Palashbari had been attached considering the vulnerability of
these reaches to erosion and their importance in the socio-economic life of the State’s
society.
The Brahmaputra had eroded away 3.86 lakh hectares of area in the Dibrugarh reach
between 1954 and 2002 and due to this, the State has incurred a loss of around Rs 1,500
crore.
On the other hand, Palashbari is a perpetually erosion-prone area, while Bankowal area is
important for the safety of the Kaziranga National Park and Matmara is also a
comparatively critical erosion-prone area, Mitra reasoned.
He also told newsmen that as per the estimates prepared during the preparation of the
report of the Task Force on Flood and Erosion engaged by the Central government in
2004, due to flood and erosion, the State had incurred a total loss of Rs 36,000 crore since
1954, as per the 2004 price level.
While erosion had caused a loss of Rs 15,000 crore, floods led to a loss of Rs 21,000
crore during the period. To manage flood and erosion, the State spent an amount of Rs
500 crore up to the end of the Eighth Five Year Plan. This amount was received from the
Central government as assistance. Moreover, on an average an additional amount of Rs
10 crore was also received from the Central government annually as additional assistance
for the purpose, for the past six years, said Mitra.