A seminar was held among the local citizens on water sources and their conservation on Wednesday evening in the courtyard of Durga Temple in Bhetapara. It was organized by The Progressive Forum, Bhetapara, Greater Bhetapara Senior Citizens Committee, Aparajita Shakha Sahitya Sabha, Lalmati, Ghoramara Barsajai Senior Citizens Association, Ghoramara Barsajai Sports, Culture and Community Development Forum and Vikas Nagar Unnayan Samiti. The meeting was chaired by Jagannath Das, former joint director of the Planning and Development Department and president of Progressive Forum. The meeting was attended by 50 men and women from the greater Bhetapara region.
The purpose of the seminar was explained by Milan Boro, secretary of the Progressive Forum and the theme was explained by the retired education officer Ganesh Chandra Goswami, president of the Greater Bhetapara Senior Citizens' Committee.
Addressing the audience, Dr. Gobin Chandra Saikia, a resident of Bhetapara area and retired scientist of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), who was the main resource person of the Seminar, expressed grief over the misuse of the abundant rain water received by the city-dwellers from nature. He explained in detail that rainwater can be easily refined and mixed with well water for minerals to make it fit for human consumption. For this, he also talked about the inexpensive filter he has himself designed (he has also applied for a patent). Using such methods in his own residence, he has been able to benefit a lot as it has made him self-sufficient in water. The part of rainwater which cannot be used or stored immediately can be used for recharging groundwater.
Participating in the Seminar, Deepak Goswami, chief convener of the Citizens’ United Form for Water Supply in Guwahati (Nagarik Oikya Mancha or CUFWSG in short), highlighted the progress of the two government water supply schemes that are important for the people of the greater Bhetapara region. He said the eastern part of the Hatigaon-Bhetapara link road would be covered under the East Guwahati Water Supply Scheme and the western part of the road under the Central Guwahati Water Supply Scheme. The progress of East Guwahati Water Supply Scheme is very slow; this scheme has come to a standstill due to lack of funds. Even if the money is provided tomorrow, people will have to wait for another three years to get water from the scheme. On the other hand, the Central Guwahati Water Supply Scheme has seen some progress; however, six of its eight reservoirs are still incomplete, only one of the three units of the Water Treatment Plant has been completed so far and three hundred kilometers of distribution network is still pending out of a total length of about 1,000 kilometers. According to the Guwahati Jal Board plan, work on this scheme should be completed by December 2024, but this hardly seems to be trustworthy. He supported Dr. Saikia's statement and said that while continuing the struggle for the implementation of the projects, it would be worthwhile to take initiatives for rainwater harvesting so that people can benefit from it without waiting for government schemes.
Chittaranjan Sharma, Ratul Dutta, Sarbananda Das and Robin Boro, residents of the area, raised questions on the topic of the Seminar.
The meeting concluded with a short remarks from the president, Jagannath Das.
