Dibrugarh: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Monday launched a 12-hour hunger strike at Poolbagan in Dibrugarh against the lackadaisical attitude of the Water Resources Department in anti-erosion measures.
The 12-hour hunger strike started at 6 am and will end at 6 pm. Several members from Dibrugarh district AASU participated in the hunger strike, demanding the speeding up of anti-erosion work.
“For the last one week, anti-erosion work from Maijan to Bogibeel has been stopped without any reason. Every year, due to erosion, people have lost their land. We have noticed that the anti-erosion work has been going at a sluggish pace,” alleged a member of AASU.
He said, “Erosion is a threat for the people of Dibrugarh because the river Brahmaputra has been shrinking every year. It is a long-pending demand of our organisation, and we are raising this burning issue on every platform.”
“We have not seen any work from the Dibrugarh MLA to address the issue. He only visited the place during the rainy season and said Dibrugarh is safe from erosion. But the ground reality is different; every year erosion takes away land,” alleged an AASU member.
Dibrugarh has been facing threats due to erosion, and every year the danger looms large during the rainy season. Flood and erosion are major problems.
“The Dibrugarh Town Protection (DTP) dyke has to be strengthened, which protects the people from floods. The geo-bags could not control the erosion from the Brahmaputra River. We need scientific measures to stop the erosion in Dibrugarh,” said Tanuj Haloi, an AASU leader of Dibrugarh.