Guwahati: The Brahmaputra River chewed through 90 meters of bank at Tingkhong Bhanga Ali in Dibrugarh starting July 7. Frightened families spent the night awake as the water encroached on their land. Livestock and homes hang in the balance.
Water Resources Department crews worked through the night to drop geo bags and mega bags into the river. They are trying to stop the slide before it reaches deeper into the town. It is a desperate race against the current.
Locals blame the disaster on poor management of a major infrastructure project. An Asian Development Bank funded initiative worth 321 crore rupees covers eight kilometers of the embankment from Maijan Mathola to Mohanaghat. Residents insist the Bhanga Ali stretch should have been protected long ago.
Department engineers cited technical reasons for skipping this specific area. One resident noted the frustration, stating, "the same stretch had witnessed erosion during the previous monsoon season." Despite those past warnings, officials took no action. The town now waits to see if the emergency fix will hold or if the river will take more.
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