Land erosion posing serious threat to Dibrugarh

Unabated land erosion by the Brahmaputra River is posing a serious threat to 170-year-old Dibrugarh in Assam.

The river has carried away 200 meters of its land.

The water current has swallowed more than six houses at Nagaguli area and forcing many people to shift to safer places.

People are worried that if the erosion continues, Dibrugarh, which is the largest producer of tea and oil in the state, would be in danger

Despite repeated demands from concerned citizens for protective measures, the state government has not responded.

“If the government does not take any good decision, then Dibrugarh town as well as upper reaches will be destroyed very short time," claimed Prasanta Phukon, who represents Dibrugarh in the state assembly.

The district administration has reportedly engaged hundreds of laborers, trucks, cranes, boats and ferries to prevent further erosion.

The flow of rivers shifted near Dibrugarh, during the Great Assam earthquake of 1950.

This has been followed by constant soil erosion.

Currently, about a third of the total town area is eroded.