The Brahmaputra Board has joined hands with the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G), for flood and erosion management in the Brahmaputra and Barak basins in Assam.
Brahmaputra Board chairman and IIT-G director had a discussion during a joint visit to Majuli and both the organisations agreed to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of hydraulic and allied research focussed on flood and erosion management of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers, said a statement.
The North Eastern Hydraulic and Allied Institute (NEHARI), under the Brahmaputra Board, is carrying out a study for the protection of Majuli island in collaboration with IIT-G.
Massive floods devastate Majuli, the world’s largest freshwater river island, and erosion by the Brahmaputra takes away a large part of it.
The hydraulic model laboratory of NEHARI is the second such laboratory of its kind in the country after the one at CWPRS, Pune.
“An MoU between IIT, Guwahati, and NEHARI will create a synergy in the field of hydraulic research and allied activities relating to basin management, flood and riverbank management,” Brahmaputra Board said in the statement.
“IIT, Guwahati, being a premier institute of technology with an active and renowned faculty and a good number of research scholars would be able to provide an environment for the best output from such research,” it said.
Highlighting the unique aspects of the collaboration, IIT-G director T G Sitharam said that management of a complex river like the Brahmaputra is possible only through a collaborative approach of academia and industry, and the MoU is a step in that direction.