Guwahati: Water expert stresses need for strict laws to save Bharalu river

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The organization, Save Bharalu, founded with the mission of reviving the ailing Bharalu river, recently celebrated its third anniversary.

To mark the occasion, Save Bharalu held its annual general meeting on Sunday at Bengali High School in Paltan Bazar, Guwahati. In the morning, a speech competition was organized as part of the event, focusing on topics like World Rivers Day and the water bodies of Guwahati.

Eighty students from schools including Railway High School, Maharshi Vidya Mandir , Assam Jatiya Vidyalaya, and Bengali High School delivered thoughtful speeches covering issues like river restoration. The competition was conducted by Swapan Jyoti Sharma.

In the afternoon, the foundation day programme was presided over by Save Bharalu president Dr. Rabindranath Mazumdar.

The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Arup Sharma, a prominent water expert and professor at IIT Guwahati. In his address, Dr. Sharma emphasized, "To restore the Bharalu, strict laws need to be enacted. Given the rate of hill excavation in Guwahati, how can we expect freedom from artificial flooding? Every year, about 20,000 tonnes of soil erodes as a result. We must all be vigilant to address this problem."

Also read: Bharalu River clean-up: Gauhati HC grants time to government to submit progress report

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