Erosion gobbles up 4.27 lakh hectares of Assam land

Guwahati: Assam has lost 4.27 lakh hectares of land due to erosion and channelisation of rivers has become highly necessary to combat the problem, officials sources said today. Flood and erosion were major challenges for the state with the Brahmaputra, Barak and their fast-flowing tributaries gobbling up 4.27 lakh hectares of land since 1954, the sources said in Guwahati.[caption id=“attachment_669943” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Flood and erosion continue to affect Assam. Reuters[/caption] The state government has already initiated steps to constitute a group of national and international experts to advise the government on steps to ensure reduction of erosion including channelisation of the rivers, the source said. The state government earmarked Rs 1,201 crore under the annual Plan and Rs 250 crore under non-Plan for flood and erosion management during the financial year 2013-14. During the 11th Five Year Plan, 100 flood management schemes were taken up and out of these, 80 schemes have been completed and 20 schemes was in progress, the sources said. Another 97 schemes would be taken up during the 12th Plan after being cleared by the Centre, they said. Rehabilitation of erosion-affected people has been given high priority while innovative methods and technologies for construction of embankments and anti-erosion measures using eco-friendly and geo-synthetic materials have been also adopted to combat the problem. PTI