In a bid to tackle flood and erosion in the state, the Assam government has initiated a pilot project at Jia Bharali river in Jamuguri where dredging and excavation work is being carried out.

The project was inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in presence of Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika, MP Pallab Lochan Das.

The Chief Minister said that in the first phase of the Jiya Bharali river about 2 km will be dredged. Later, this will be stretched to 20km.

This will be carried out in other tributaries of Assam also in a phased manner, he added.

The dredger reached Mumbai port via the sea route from America. From there, the dredger was brought to Assam through the roads.

It may be mentioned that thousands of hectares of agricultural land have already been submerged in the river in Jamuguri after being hit by erosion, which flows from Arunachal Pradesh.

With this, the chief minister said that the problem of erosion will be completely eradicated in due course of time.

The Jia Bharali river (also known as Kameng) is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River. It originates in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh and flows through the heart of Tezpur before its confluence with the Brahmaputra river.