An environment-friendly model to tame Brahmaputra

GUWAHATI, August 9: Both structural and non-structural methods should go hand in hand in taming the Brahmaputra. For the purpose of taming the river, a method should be designed in a manner, which gives equal emphasis on bamboo plantation near the roads and embankments and cane/nal and katah plantations near the river courses, according to Manik Kar, Professor of the Centre for Disaster Management, Tezpur University. He also called for an all-out social move in a concerted manner to mitigate disasters like floods. Kar who developed a flood history of the state through arduous research work, has also designed a model for effectively checking the erosion caused by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. The model gives emphasis on developing cane and katah (a thorny and bushy bamboo) near the river course and a bamboo forest along the ridges of the embankments or roads running along the river. Similar patterns of developing forests on the other side of the embankments or roads, facing human habitats, should also be followed to resist the erosion caused by the rivers, said Kar, adding that disaster mitigation methods are, however, complex and interdependent. These methods require for their implementation effective leadership and coordination, he said. Mitigation will be most effective if safety measures are spread through a wide diversity of integrated activities. However, active mitigation measures that rely on incentives are more effective than passive ones, which base on restrictive laws and controls, Kar observed. But, he said, mitigation must not be isolated from related elements of disaster planning such as preparedness, relief and reconstruction, and, where resources are limited, priority should be given to the protection of key social groups, critical services and vital economic sectors. Without continuous monitoring of the changing patterns of hazards, vulnerability and resources, mitigation measures suffer from handicaps, while public apathy and lack of political commitments also make the mitigation measures suffer, he said. Legal frameworks, particularly enactments related to disaster management, usually do not tend to lay much emphasis on mitigation. But, incentives can often provide better inducement for mitigation than legal impositions. government grants or subsidies may help persuading commercial and other institutions to include mitigation measures in their programmes. Adequate emphasis should also be laid on training and educating all those involved, including common people, in mitigation planning, Kar said. Non-structural mitigation measures should be complemented by structural measures. Both the government as well as individually-owned structures should be so planned that they are built on safe sites with proven materials and skills. Academic institutions, research establishments, technical authorities, scientific programmes, agencies like the meteorology department, transport authorities, agriculture departments, producers of hazardous chemicals and industrial safety organisations, among others, should also take coordinated and well-concerted moves for disaster management. For, mitigating disasters, like floods, an all-out social move is what is the most required, he observed. Commenting on the model he has designed, Kar said if implemented, it will provide a good environment with sufficient bamboo, needs, cane, besides protecting the embankments from the forces of erosion, which will minimise the regular repair cost too.