While floods continue to ravage Assam, at the state Water Resource Department, there’s a deluge of reports and recommendations by expert committees that are yet to be put to use.Records show at least 12 expert panels were constituted between 1929 and 1980 to suggest steps to control the Brahmaputra. These were followed by the formation of the Brahmaputra Board that has also come out with a series of master plans. Most of these plans also are yet to be implemented. Flood facts GUWAHATI: With the Brahmaputra swelling above the danger mark, officials at Kaziranga National Park, home to the one-horned rhinoceros, said on Sunday the reserve may soon be flooded. CHANDIGARH: A woman and her two children were buried under the roof at Shahzadpur, while a 17-year-old girl was killed when a wall collapsed due to heavy rain at Chhan in Haryana on Saturday night, police said. JAIPUR: Six major dams have collapsed in Rajasthan, officials said on Sunday. (Agencies) The first such expert committee to look into the problem was constituted in 1929 that suggested dredging of the river and its tributaries. Since then it has been an unending story, with the Mah Singh Committee in 1948, the G.R. Garg panel in 1951, the Bhagabati Committee in 1957, a high-level Central Government panel in 1958, and so on.While one panel would lay stress on embankments as the best possible measure, another would negate it and suggest construction of multi-purpose reservoirs, the two steps appearing alternatively in successive committee reports.The Brahmaputra and its tributaries have already changed course following the earthquake of 1950 which led to extensive damage to at least three towns, Dibrugarh, Sadiya and Palashbari.A second flood struck Assam in 1954, with the Centre coming out with the National Flood Control Policy which suggested construction of embankments as a short-term and multi-purpose reservoirs as long-term measure.Meanwhile, several foreign experts too have studied the problem, including Dr Ian Burton, B.P. Bellport and H.E. Weller, whose suggestions included a proper reconnaissance study to determine not only the magnitude of the problem but also the hydrological and economic features of the Brahmaputra basin.On the other hand, the Brahmaputra Board has prepared three master plans, one for the main stem of the Brahmaputra, one for the Barak and its tributaries and the third for the tributaries of the Brahmaputra and eight rivers in Tripura.‘‘But these plans have not gone beyond the drawing board, while nearly 70 per cent of the state’s embankments have lost their capacity to prevent floods,’’ said CM Tarun Gogoi. The plans include construction of multi-purpose projects, leading to starting work on several hydel projects on the Siang, Subansiri, Dibang, Kameng and rivers in Arunachal Pradesh.
