Save Bharalu Abhiyan holds awareness programme in Guwahati

 GUWAHATI: Save Bharalu Abhiyan, a forum of like-minded citizens from nearly all walks of life that was formed a year ago with the sole motto of rejuvenating dying Bharalu, started its public awareness campaign on September 26, 2021, by observing World Rivers Day with a bicycle rally. Since then, they have successfully implemented several programmes to make citizens aware of the deplorable status of the Bharalu and the urgent need to revive it, stated a press release.

On Sunday, members led by their president, Dr. Rabin Mazumder, held a street awareness meeting at the Basistha Chariali near Kali Mandir, close to which a sluice gate was installed around the mid-eighties to divert the flow of Bahini westward so that areas downstream are not flooded in the rainy season. Addressing the gathering, mostly local residents and Abhiyan members, the president lamented that the Bahini, which was once (prior to the installation of the gate) a living river with flora and fauna in its clean water, is now a dead "dustbin" carrying sewage and rain water due to the dumping of garbage by the residents and sewage coming directly from households. To revive the dead tributary, it must be made to flow first, which could be possible only if the gate stopping the flow is replaced by a modern sluice gate allowing the Bahini to flow along its original course and to be closed in the rainy season if there was a threat of flooding. Other members who spoke included Akhil Goswami, Satya Ranjan Baruah, and Nava Prasad Sarma, who urged people to cooperate with authorities in garbage collection and disposal so that river streams and drains are not polluted. After the program, attended by Dr Seema Rekha Devi, Dr Arup Das, Dhrubajyoti Saikia, H Choudhury, and Bikash Talukdar, members erected posters with slogans such as "Stop dumping garbage into Bahini-Bharalu or any drains and water bodies," "Replace the defunct sluice gate with a mod.

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