Assam: 3 cabinet ministers in a row inspect Deepor Beel, ask GMDA to remove encroachments

GUWAHATI: Three cabinet ministers have in a row inspected the encroachments in the surroundings of Deepor Beel, the state’s only Ramsar site.
Tourism minister Jayanta Malla Baruah and water resources minister Pijush Hazarika on Thursday went on an inspection tour in a boat, a day after urban affairs minister Ashok Singhal undertook an aerial survey of the beel.
All of them have asked the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to study the area in a bid to revive the natural water reservoir and make the city free of urban floods.
The Deepor Beel has shrunk from 40sq km 50 years ago to just 4sqkm in winter and 10sq km in summer.
Baruah said, “Wetlands are known to provide a host of social-environmental services, but the fragile ecology of Deepor Beel is under threat. Following the instructions of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, we inspected various sites near the beel and asked the officials concerned to carry out a survey to see if Brahmaputra waters could be diverted to the Deepor Beel during monsoon. This will not only help prevent floods, but also give Deepor Beel fresh water, which will eventually revive the ecology.”
Singhal said the conservation of the Deepor as well as the Silsako Beel and other reservoirs is of immense importance to protect Guwahati from perennial flooding during the monsoon.
“However, the water holding capacity of these reservoirs has decreased due to rampant encroachment. Measures will be taken to evict all such encroachments in collaboration with the revenue department,” he added.