Guwahati, August 20: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has criticised the Centre’s response to Assam’s worsening erosion crisis, saying the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s reply failed to address key concerns over the collapse of riverbank protection projects in Majuli.
Gogoi had written to Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil on June 24 seeking urgent intervention in Majuli and other erosion-hit areas of Upper Assam. He said the ministry’s response, received nearly seven weeks later, left questions over accountability and long-term protection unanswered.
According to Gogoi, the minister’s reply acknowledged that 3.3 km of a 7.2-km GeoBag protection embankment at Bhakat Chapori had been washed away by floods. He also said around 1 km of the recently completed Kordoiguri erosion-control project was affected after a shift in the river channel.
“Both projects failed to serve the very purpose they were built for,” Gogoi said in a post on August 19.
He questioned why the ministry had not specified corrective measures for the affected sites or outlined a long-term plan to prevent further erosion.
In his June letter, Gogoi had sought a high-level technical assessment, a review of Brahmaputra Board projects implemented over the past two decades and accountability for failed or ineffective works. He had also sought permanent protection at vulnerable locations, including Kordoiguri, Bhakat Chapori, Mohorichuk, Charigharia and Missamora, and urged the minister to visit Assam and meet affected communities.
Gogoi said recurring floods and erosion had caused severe hardship in Majuli and Upper Assam, and accused the government of showing a “lackadaisical attitude” towards the crisis.
