Itanagar: Hydrological experts from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam today advocated a holistic and integrated river basin plan and management of water resources between both the states to mitigate recurring flood and erosion problem.
Majority of the participants in a day-long workshop on ‘Integrated river basin management for mitigation of flood and disasters in inter-state rivers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam: Perspective in the context of climate change', have suggested a joint effort to get rid of the burgeoning problem haunting both the states since long.
While Arunachal loss an estimated 668.28 million tons of agriculturally useful topsoil annually due to erosion, the loss in neighbouring Assam amounts to 4,25,900 hectares in the past 66 years (1954-2010), the experts revealed.
Moreover, the experts felt that China's intervention in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River by constructing dams was a major cause of concern for both the states. “Brahmaputra is most susceptible to reduction of flow thereby threatening food security to around 26 million people,” commented Partha J Das of Assam-based NGO Aaranyak.
