Brahmaputra river water turned muddy in February-end due to landslide in China, Assam water resources minister Keshab Mahanta has claimed.
Mahanta said this in the Assembly while replying to a call attention motion moved by BJP MLA Ashok Singhal and AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam over a media report that blamed China for the change of colour of the Brahmaputra river water last month.
He said that China has begun sharing hydrological data with the Central Water Commission.
The minister said water samples were collected from different stretches of Brahmaputra and lab tests conducted on them.
All parameters were within permissible limits and there were no poisonous substances, he said.
“We then checked the satellite imagery which showed a landslide – the possible reason for the river water turning muddy. The imagery showed no construction activity on the river,” Mahanta said.
He said unlike a similar instance in 2017, there were no reports of fish deaths in the river this time.
“In 2017, there was a similar phenomenon. I along with officials of the water resources department had visited Tuting and the nearby areas then. The water was tested at various stretches and no poisonous substances were found,” he said.
Mahanta said China had agreed for the first time to share hydrological data.
“We had been getting the data since then through the CWC,” the minister added.