Brahmaputra Board prepares master plans for management of NE & North Bengal Rivers

The Brahmaputra Board under Union Jal Shakti Ministry has identified 70 rivers under its jurisdiction and for which master plans are either prepared or to be prepared for better management of these rivers including controlling erosion and removal of siltation, top officials said here on Friday.

The 84th meeting of the Brahmaputra Board was held in Agartala and discussed strategies of management of rivers in the northeastern states and the northern part of West Bengal falling under the Brahmaputra basin.

After the meeting, Brahmaputra Board Chairman Ranbir Singh said that various plans were taken for the development of nine river basins under its jurisdiction while new projects were approved.

“The Brahmaputra Board works on the initiative of better management of the water resources of the region. Works on river erosion prevention, removal of silt in the rivers are going on as per the earlier master plans,” he told the media.

Singh said that in Friday’s meeting, the board has approved a Rs 3.5 crore masterplan for the Feni river that flows in southern Tripura to Bangladesh.

The board has also given its approval to update the masterplans sanctioned earlier for Gomti and Muhuri rivers in Tripura.

Brahmaputra Board Chairman said that under the masterplans, the studies and analysis of all three major rivers of Tripura would be conducted and accordingly necessary interventions would be recommended.

He said that the masterplan would be designed in the backdrop of the devastating floods that hit the state of Tripura last year, and would help in mitigating the risk arising due to heavy rainfall.

In last year’s catastrophic flood and landslides, at least 38 people lost their lives while a total of 58,687 houses were damaged and about 17 lakh people were affected and around four lakh people were shifted to safe shelters and 889 relief camps set up by the government.

According to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, due to the devastating flood, the state has suffered damages of around Rs 15,000 crore.

In the Friday’s Brahmaputra Board meeting, all the nine basin states, which include eight states from the northeast region and one from West Bengal, were present.

The officials of the union Jal Shakti Ministry who are members of the Brahmaputra Board were also present. The Brahmaputra Board, being a statutory board, is entrusted with the task of managing the water resources in the northeast and north Bengal.

The Brahmaputra Board was established by the government of India in September 1980 for planning and integrated implementation of measures for control of floods and bank erosion in the Brahmaputra valley and for matters connected therewith.

The Board's responsibilities encompass the entire Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys, including all the northeastern states and northern part of West Bengal falling undethe r Brahmaputra Basin.