Assam: Dibrugarh Press Club reviews 800-metre erosion zone
Dibrugarh: Dibrugarh Press Club (DPC) members on Saturday visited erosion-hit areas along the Brahmaputra River in Assam's Nagaghuli, observed the extensive damage caused by over a decade of constant river erosion, and reviewed the protective measures that authorities are currently implementing.
The media delegation, led by Dibrugarh Press Club President Manash Jyoti Dutta and General Secretary Ripunjoy Das, along with other office-bearers and members, embarked on a boat ride accompanied by engineers from the Water Resources Department.
The team navigated the vulnerable riverbank to assess both the scale of devastation and the effectiveness of the anti-erosion interventions currently underway.
Water Resources Department officials briefed the visiting team on several ongoing projects that they are executing along an 800-metre erosion-affected stretch in the upstream areas of Nagaghuli.
The protective strategy employs advanced C-type geo bag screening technology alongside traditional RCC porcupine structures to counter the river’s aggressive erosive forces.
Significantly, the anti-erosion measures are utilising geo-textile bags manufactured by SKAPS Industries, a geosynthetics manufacturer operating under a SKAPS India–USA joint venture.
Engineers are strategically deploying these American-made geo bags—large fabric containers filled with sand or soil—to absorb and deflect the river’s force and reinforce the threatened riverbank sections.
Officials confirmed that similar protection projects are underway along extended stretches of the Brahmaputra riverbank in Dibrugarh, from Maijan to Mohanaghat.
Emphasising the urgency of the work, they stated that they are continuing operations round the clock during the winter season to ensure Dibrugarh is adequately protected before monsoon floods and erosion begin.
“Work is underway round the clock in the winter season so that during the monsoon, Dibrugarh doesn’t have to bear the brunt of floods and erosion,” officials said during the inspection.
The current protective strategy combines both modern and conventional engineering solutions.
Engineers are urgently deploying Type C geo bags along the most vulnerable sections, using them in tandem with porcupines—heavy concrete structures designed to break the river’s momentum and stabilise the bank.
The Water Resources Department also revealed that engineers are carrying out the enhancement of river spurs along the Brahmaputra adjacent to Dibrugarh city.
This extensive network comprises 8 stone spurs, 3 permeable spurs, and 47 wooden spurs, all strategically positioned to deflect the river’s current and reduce its erosive velocity.
The erosion challenge facing Dibrugarh has historical roots in the catastrophic 1950 Assam earthquake.
The magnitude 8.6 quake, which struck on August 15, fundamentally altered the Brahmaputra’s course and raised the riverbed in the Dibrugarh region several metres above the city’s ground level.
This seismic transformation created what experts classify as a “perched river system,” where the Brahmaputra flows at an elevation higher than the surrounding terrain. Consequently, the DTP Dyke functions not merely as a conventional flood barrier but as a critical dam-like structure restraining an elevated river, making any potential breach catastrophic for the low-lying city below.