Skip to content Skip to navigation

Rs 20 cr down the drain; no respite

At a time when massive water logging wreaks havoc in Guwahati even after a heavy downpour, GMDA and water resources department take centrestage following the revelations that Rs 20 crore was spent during the last five years in the name of desiltation and excavation of the rivers flowing across the city. But no result is in sight.

According to information available with Assam Times, the heavily manned departments spent Rs 78.37 lakh in 2009-2010 to desilt the river Basistha apart from linking the river to Mora Bharalu spending Rs 69.29 lakh.

Again in 2011-12, another amount of Rs 44.95 lakh was spent to desilt the river. But of no avail. But not even an area in the city got respite from waterlogging.

What is more striking is stunning is that a huge amount of Rs 1.20 crore was spent in 2011 -12only in the name of a cleanliness drive in the river Bahini which is no less responsible for massive waterlogging in Guwahati.

The same river required Rs 1.41 cr to be desilted deploying men and machines in 2013-14.

Not only that. GMDA and water resources department spent Rs 16.15 crore in 2009-10 in the name of excavation and desiltation of rivers from Motoria to Bonda through Silasaku. But there is hardly any positive result.

Hardly any respite is in sight despite this huge expenditure. Waterlogging has been a regular feature these days.

With this, it has become clear that a huge amount of money ti the tune of Rs 20 crore has gone down the drain in the name of excavation, desiltation and cleaning the rivers Bharalu, Bahini, Basistha, Silsaku, Borsola and Sarusola during the last 5 years.

Assam Times will leave before you more sensational revelations how over Rs 10 crore was spent only in the name of desiltation and excavation of the Bharalu river during this period.

Will chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who is committed to end the waterlogging chapter even by evicting hundreds of people in the largest ever drive in the city, look into it?   

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Dead body of a missing person in Indo-Bangladesh border

24 May 2011 - 10:35pm | A Chakraborty
On the evening of 23rd April, the mutilated body of Biju Das (35) was recovered by the police from the Brahmaputra River near Shilghaghra, which is the Indo-Bangaladesh border. He was a small grocery...

SOS Children's Village celebrates Mother's Day

11 May 2020 - 11:15am | Nikhil Mundra
Children at SOS Children's Village celebrated Mother's Day in a small manner at their respective homes, maintaining social distancing  on Sunday. There are 19 families in the village...

50 years old beaten up on molestation charge at Nazira

17 Sep 2010 - 7:28pm | editor
People of ward no. 6 of Nazira town, Sivasagar district have captured one Anil Mahali (50) on Friday, when he tried to molest a 5 years old girl. Later the accused was handed over to the police.

Rainwaters havoc in Jorabat

15 Jul 2015 - 7:17pm | AT News
A massive waterlogging caused no less inconvenience for many people in Jorabat area disrupting surface communication on Wednesday.Rainwaters wreaked havoc in the area after the heavy downpour in the...

Other Contents by Author

Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha and the President of Jatiya Dal-Asom, has filed an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and several other ministers and MLAs. The FIR, addressed to the Officer-In-Charge of Dispur Police Station, alleges that the statements made by these constitutional functionaries constitute hate speeches against a particular community. In the FIR, Bhuyan refers to recent press statements made by Chief Minister Sarma, in which he allegedly asked people from Upper Assam to come to Guwahati and promised to clear the city of "Mias." These statements, widely available on social media, are seen as intended to create divisions among...
In a recent development, the Chief of Assam Trinamool Congress (TMC), Ripun Bora, has demanded urgent action against Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. Bora's call comes after the Director General of Police (DGP) of Assam Police takes suo-motu cognisance of a Supreme Court order, WP(C) No. 943/2021 of Ashwini Kumar Upadhaya Vs. Union of India & ORS. During a press conference held at the party's headquarters on Monday, Bora emphasized that CM Sarma's comments about the Miyan community constitute a "hate speech" and violate Section 153(A) of the IPC, as outlined in the order dated April 28, 2023, passed in WP(C) No. 943/2021. Bora further revealed that he has written a letter to...
Udalguri, Assam - In a devastating incident that took place today, Raju Keunt, a 47-year-old resident, lost his life after being trampled by a wild elephant at the Orangajuli tea garden. The unfortunate incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Paneri police station in Udalguri district. Keunt was attempting to feed bananas to a group of wild elephants when the tragedy unfolded. Eyewitnesses reported that Keunt had ventured close to the elephants, hoping to interact with them and feed them some bananas. Unfortunately, one of the elephants became agitated and charged at him, resulting in the fatal trampling. Despite the efforts of the tea garden workers and nearby residents to...
Chuachandpur's Rural Women Upliftment Society (RWUS) has stepped forward to provide assistance and relief to the grief-stricken family of Late David Hmar, who tragically lost his life on July 2, 2023. David was brutally beheaded by an armed mob during an attack on his village, Chinglangmei, located in the Samulamlan Block of Lamka. The untimely demise of David has left his family devastated, especially considering their already precarious financial situation. David hails from an impoverished family, where his father is afflicted with Hemiparesis, a condition that has rendered him unable to work and provide for the family. As the sole breadwinner, David worked on a small farm, struggling...
 In a bid to shape the future of climate action, indigenous communities and local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Assam joined forces on June 30, 2023, for a community consultation on COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Held at Rajputana Login, Jorhat, this event provided a vital platform for communities to express their concerns, contributions, and recommendations regarding the upcoming critical climate conference. The consultation, organized by the North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS) and supported by various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), aimed to ensure that community...
IIT Roorkee, in collaboration with astronomers from India, Japan, and Europe, has made a significant breakthrough in the study of gravitational waves. An international team of astronomers has recently published their findings in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal, providing evidence of ultra-low frequency gravitational waves and shedding light on the humming of our universe. Using some of the world's most sensitive radio telescopes, including India's largest telescope, uGMRT, the team monitored pulsars, which are rapidly rotating neutron stars, to detect these waves. The pulsars, acting as cosmic clocks, emitted radio beams that were analyzed for changes in arrival times caused by...
Assam TMC chief and AITC national spokesperson Ripun Bora on Thursday strongly condemned the shocking incident reported from Ghograpara Police Station in Nalbari district where an underage girl in lock up was stripped by a police officer and being photographed. Bora alleged that the actions of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to empower Assam Police personnel against controlling crime resulted in extreme Police Raaj in the state. The shameful incident which happened at Ghograpar Police Station on the unfortunate night of June 21 is reported by the girl on June 26 at Nalbari district head police station, however no action was taken on that complaint till 28th June. Commenting on this, Ripun Bora...
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati Off-Campus celebrated its 10th Convocation ceremony on June 23, 2023. The event was held at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre Auditorium, Guwahati and was graced by the presence of Prof. Manorama Sharma, Professor (Retd.), Dept. of History, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), who served as the Chief Guest. The Director of the Institute, Prof. Shalini Bharat and Officiating Registrar, Prof. Sasmita Palo were also present at the ceremony. During the convocation ceremony, 154 students who graduated in the year 2023 were awarded their degrees. One student was conferred with a PhD degree in Social Sciences while 112 students obtained their...
The TMC Assam unit has opposed the draft delimitation proposal published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday evening. The proposal is prepared based on the 2001 census, which the TMC claims is not correct as there has been a change in the population pattern in the state. Assam TMC chief Ripun Bora has alleged that the ECI is following the dictates of the BJP party and that the delimitation process on such short notice reflects the assurance of electoral gains through voter division. Bora also stated that the delimitation cannot be accepted without the completion of proper NRC and that TMC has been demanding delimitation on the latest census. The TMC has rejected the draft...
We are deeply concerned about the continuing ethnic violence in Manipur between the Meitei community and the tribal Kuki and Zo communities. We demand an immediate halt to this violence that is causing large scale disruption of lives, livelihoods and properties and unleashing even more terror among people. The immediate trigger to this violence was an April 2023 Manipur High Court order advising the state government to grant the Meitei community (members of which now have either OBC or in some cases SC status) the status of Scheduled Tribe. Thereby, the Meitei community would have access to land that is currently reserved for tribal communities. Several spates of violence broke...