Asom to institute inquiry into dam, bridge fallout

Guwahati, May 26 (UNI) The Asom government will institute separate inquiries into the possible affect of the upcoming Bogibeel Bridge project at Dibrugarh and the NHPC hydroelectric project at Dhemaji along Asom-Arunachal border.

There has been an uproar over the possible impacts of the Bogibeel bridge and the NHPC project. The government has decided to conduct scientific surveys of the projects, said Asom Water Resources Minister Bharat Narah.

The surveys would be conducted by experts from the IIT, which would help the government and the project implementing agencies to take up additional measures and contingency plans in the event of any adverse effects downstream the projects.

Coming up at Gerukamukh village, around 471 km north from Guwahati, along the Asom-Arunachal border, the Rs 6600 crore Lower Subansiri Project of the NHPC has been in the eye of the storm, with local and environmentalist alleging that the impact of the dam will have an adverse affect on the environment, triggering extensive erosion and change in the course of the Subansiri river, one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra.

On the other hand, environmentalists and locals of the largest riverine island in the world, Majuli, are also skeptical over the ambitious Bogibeel bridge project, the fifth bridge over Brahmaputra, coming up at Dibrugarh in upper Asom.

They apprehend the possibility of a catastrophe being caused by the bridge on the island, like braiding of river courses, large-scale erosion and excessive flooding.

UNI