Assam: Airport, Army base under flood threat

Guwahati, Oct 30: The Dibrugarh Airport and the Dinjan Brigade headquarter of Indian Army are under serious threat of erosion by the river Brahmaputra.

'' An astounding 70 metere were swept away at Rohmoria by the river yesterday'' local MP Sarabananda Sonowal said adding both the airport and army base lies within 5000 meter of the river.

Mr Sonowal has been visiting the affected areas and alleged that government maintained silence over the whole situation.

'' Although Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had announced a massive package to take counter measures,nothing substantial has been done so far'' he further alleged.

More than 13 villages had been eroded over the past decade as the river shifted it course three kilometer inside from the original bed.

The erosion will increase further as the water level increase, he said.

This is a direct fall out of the opposite side. As the rain water of Arunachal Pradesh rushed the Brahmaputra valley and reached the river on the Northern side, Rohmoria at the southern side took the full brunt of the impact, Mr Snowal stated.

Both the Army and Airport Authorities are keeping a close tab on the erosion but not equipped to handle the might of the nature as huge blocks of earth were eaten away by the river every day relentlessly, he warned.

A sudden wave of surging Brahmaputra water on Tuesday night around the Rohmoria segment has triggered a fresh spate of erosion in the area, taking down almost 200 metres of agricultural land along the river within twelve hours.

The erosion has been alarming particularly at the Gorpara area, where a stretch of nearly 30 bighas of land became part of the Brahmaputra soon after the sudden gush of river water at around 2 am this morning, the local villagers said.

Several stretches of planted cabbages, cauliflowers and other cash crops have evidently been destroyed.

The Rohmoria area under Chabua revenue circle is situated at a distance of 23 kilometres to the east of Guwahati. For the erstwhile and the current residents, twenty-eight revenue villages have been swallowed by the river there.

UNI