GUWAHATI: Assam has suffered a loss of around 4.27 lakh hectares of land due to the erosion of the Brahmaputra river, greatly affecting the overall development of the state, the Assembly was informed on Wednesday.
Replying to a question by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Sirajuddin Ajmal, water resources Minister Pijusho Hazarika He said that the main calamities are floods and erosion caused by the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and their tributaries.
He said that the Water Resources Department has been implementing erosion protection schemes at the affected sites from time to time.
“These schemes have yielded desired results in terms of controlling the perennial problem of erosion by various rivers,” the minister said.
In 2015, the Assam Assembly passed a resolution to include river erosion within the guidelines for erosion. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Hazarika said that the revenue and disaster management department of the state government has notified erosion as a state specific calamity in 2015 and as per norms 10 per cent of the funds allocated under SDRF can be used for state specific calamities.
He said that the 15th Finance Commission has considered erosion as a disaster and has taken note of two aspects of erosion, which include measures to prevent erosion and rehabilitation of people displaced by erosion.
The commission recommended Rs 100 crore under NDRF and Rs 1,500 crore under this for rehabilitation of people affected by erosion. National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) separately for measures to control erosion, the minister said.
Replying to a question by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Sirajuddin Ajmal, water resources Minister Pijusho Hazarika He said that the main calamities are floods and erosion caused by the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and their tributaries.
He said that the Water Resources Department has been implementing erosion protection schemes at the affected sites from time to time.
“These schemes have yielded desired results in terms of controlling the perennial problem of erosion by various rivers,” the minister said.
In 2015, the Assam Assembly passed a resolution to include river erosion within the guidelines for erosion. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Hazarika said that the revenue and disaster management department of the state government has notified erosion as a state specific calamity in 2015 and as per norms 10 per cent of the funds allocated under SDRF can be used for state specific calamities.
He said that the 15th Finance Commission has considered erosion as a disaster and has taken note of two aspects of erosion, which include measures to prevent erosion and rehabilitation of people displaced by erosion.
The commission recommended Rs 100 crore under NDRF and Rs 1,500 crore under this for rehabilitation of people affected by erosion. National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) separately for measures to control erosion, the minister said.
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