Guwahati: Not just Guwahati, the Assam government is now looking at conserving and beautifying all natural wetlands and reservoirs across the state.
What’s more, it is also looking at value addition in a bid to woo the younger generations to the water bodies, and of course, promote tourism.
In sync with the state government’s initiatives to protect and conserve natural water bodies and water channels in the city, state minister for housing and urban affairs Ashok Singhal on Thursday visited Urpad Beel in western Assam’s Goalpara district and took stock of the progress of construction of a footpath and cycling track around the wetland.
The project is being implemented under the State Self-Priority Fund for the year 2020-21.
Singhal said the state government would make every effort to beautify the wetland and make it a leading tourist destination in the state.
The minister thereafter visited another wetland, Hachila Beel near Goalpara town.
“Wetlands are an integral part of our biodiversity and a resource for future generations,” he said.
“Therefore, conservation of wetlands is one of the main responsibilities of the government and the government will take all steps to protect these two important wetlands in Goalpara district in the interest of the future generations,” the minister said.
Goalpara deputy commissioner Khanin Chowdhury, APDCL director Dr. Prakash Kashyap, social worker Bhrigu Ranjan Rabha, officials of the wetland development committee, district administration, and local people were present during the inspection.
It may be recalled that Singhal had carried out an aerial survey of various rivers and reservoirs in Guwahati, including Silsako Beel and different parts of the city last week.
The minister also inspected the work of ‘Mission Flood Free Guwahati’ in various water channels of the city including Bharalu, Mora Bharalu, Basistha-Bahini rivers, etc.
Singhal said the conservation of Silsako Beel, Deepor Beel and other reservoirs is of immense importance to protect Guwahati city from artificial flooding.
However, the water-carrying capacity of these reservoirs has decreased due to the illegal encroachment of water channels like Bharalu and Bahini.
“Therefore, measures will be taken to evict all such encroachments in collaboration with the revenue department in the interest of flood-free Guwahati,” he added.
The minister expressed concern over the widespread encroachment on rivers and reservoirs in the city and said every Guwahatian should take responsibility for keeping their city clean.
He said the problem of artificial flooding in the city would be solved naturally if the people were aware, did not throw garbage in the drains and opened the water channels.
In a measure to mitigate the artificial flooding, the department has ramped up the cleaning and desilting operations of all important storm drains, canals etc. of the city before the coming monsoon season.
As it is, the Assam government is on a mission mode to protect and conserve natural water bodies and water channels in Guwahati to keep artificial floods in the capital city at bay.
In fact, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently said that the ongoing eviction drive at Silsako Beel would continue till all encroachments in the protected wetland are cleared.
Silsako Beel is a crucial reservoir for storm-water runoff from the city.
The Assam government had in 2008 declared Silsako a protected water body, thereby prohibiting construction and settlement in the wetland.
Sarma, while speaking to mediapersons here, said satellite images clearly indicate that the encroachments in the form of residential structures, offices and institutes in the protected area had taken place during 2009 and 2015.
The chief minister had also informed that Assam would soon have the largest lake at Silsako.
“A spectacular model of the proposed Silsako lake has been designed and it will add to the scenic grandeur and ease the perennial artificial flooding in Guwahati,” he had said.
The valley of the river Brahmaputra with its innumerable freshwater lakes (locally called beel), or ox-bow lakes (era suti), marshy tracts and seasonally flooded plains and hundreds of riverine sand bars and islands was, till recently, an ideal wetland ecosystem housing specialised wetland animals.
In Assam, there are 690 lakes and ponds as recorded. These lakes/ponds cover an area of 15494.00 hectares (ha), which constitutes 0.20 percent of the total geographical area of the state and 15.30 percent of the total area under wetlands.
The smallest of them measures 2.50 ha while the largest one has 882.50 ha of area coverage. The majority of this type of wetlands have water with low turbidity.
District-wise, 3513 wetlands have been identified in Assam by Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre, Assam.
A total of 861 ox-bow lakes/cut-off meanders are observed throughout Assam, covering an area of 15460.60 ha which constitutes 0.20 percent of the total geographical area of the state and 15.27 percent of the total area under wetlands. The smallest of them measures 5.0 ha while the largest one has 582.50 ha of area coverage.
In Assam, 1,125 waterlogged areas are observed, which are distributed unevenly covering an area of 23431.50 ha which constitutes 0.30 percent of the total geographical area of the state and 23.15 percent of the total area under wetlands.
The smallest of them is 2.5 ha while the largest one has 3010.00 ha of area coverage.
These water-logged areas play a significant role in the region’s economy as they are present in large numbers in the rural areas containing a good amount of fish and other aquatic fauna and providing habitat to a variety of migratory as well as domestic birds.
Besides, they have remarkable potential for supplying irrigation water to the nearby agricultural fields during the dry periods.
These swampy/marshy areas constitute another major group of wetlands in Assam. These are identifiable on satellite imagery by their reddish tone indicating the presence of vegetation, associated with a dark blue tone inferring to the presence of water and their occurrence in the low-lying areas.
Due to the presence of varied quantities of minerals in the water, these swampy/marshy areas are either moderately or highly turbid. In most cases, there is no feeder channel to control the inflow or outflow of water.
In Assam, as many as 712 swampy/marshy areas have been identified from satellite data, which cover an area of 43433.50 ha constituting 0.55 percent of the total geographical area of the state and 42.91 percent of the total area under wetlands.
Reservoirs are artificial impoundments of water for irrigation, flood control, municipal water supplies, hydro-electric power generation and so forth. There are as many as 10 reservoirs covering an area of 2662.5 ha, which constitute 0.03 percent of the total geographical area of the state and 2.63 percent of the total area under wetlands.
The smallest of them covers 17.50 ha while the largest one has 930.00 ha of area coverage. The majority of this type of wetlands contains water with low turbidity.
In Assam, a total of 115 tanks have been identified from satellite data. The majority of this type of wetlands have low turbidity.
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An analysis of aquatic vegetation in these tanks indicates that most of them are free from vegetation. The highest number of tanks are observed in Sivasagar district (20) followed by Kamrup (18) and Sonitpur (16). But area-wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Sivasagar district (267.00 ha) followed by Sonitpur (83.50 ha) and Kamrup (80.00 ha) districts.
Some of the important wetlands under this category are Gaurisagar Pukhuri, Sibsagar Pukhuri and Joysagar Pukhuri in Sivasagar district.
Besides providing water to the people of the nearby areas, these tanks can also be used for rearing fish and raising plantation crops like coconut, areca nut, cashew nut, etc. along the sides of the ponds. Ornamental gardens can also be developed on the banks of the ponds.
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