To tackle floods...4 water bodies to get face lift
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 06 2019: In view of the constant flood in whenever it rains, be it monsoon season or any other season, the State Government has begun improvement works on four water bodies of the State.

Moreover, 23 waterbodies are also planned for similar improvement works in the near future.

It may be mentioned that whenever it rains for two or three consecutive days, the water level in many of the rivers and streams of the State rise to alarming level and this is often accompanied by floods after the river banks collapse under the burden of the large volume of water.

The main reason for these constant flooding has been attributed to the gradual drying up of the natural water bodies in the State.

It is worth noting that there are instances of many waterbodies being filled up and buildings and infrastructures being built over the area where they (waterbodies) once existed.

On the other hand, the gradual deforestation near the river mouths, is also another reason for the constant flood as there are no more trees to absorb the water and the sediment carried by the water rapidly fill up the river bed making the shallow.

To tackle floods...4 water bodies to get face lift

Taking all these alarming developments into consideration, the State Water Resource Department focused on improving the water bodies in the State.

According to a reliable source, the Department is currently undertaking improvement works under flood management at 4 water bodies of the State namely Lamphelpat, Waithoupat, Irong Nala (upper) and Irong Nala (lower).

The Empower Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources had also given approval to the improvement works in the past, the source added.

Informing that a total of Rs 56.44 crore has been sanctioned for the improvement of the 4 water bodies, the source mentioned that the work began during the financial year 2016-17 and is targeted for completion before March 2020.Besides the work on the said 4 water bodies, the Department is also hard at work to carry out necessary improvement works at 23 other water bodies present in the hills and the valley, which have been identified and selected by the Directorate of Environment, the source explained.

The source added that the Department is also planning to develop an even larger water body at Lamphelpat.

On the other hand, construction work on a State Hydrological Data Centre is underway at the office premises of Water Resource Department at Lamphelpat, under National Hydrology Project.

The source informed that the National Hydrology Project, which is also a Central Sector Scheme, was implemented at a total cost of Rs 25 crore with the help of the World Bank from May 2017.Under the project, a total of Rs 6.5 crore has been set aside for the construction of the State Hydrological Data Centre.

Water Resource Minister Letpao Haokip had even laid the foundation stone for the construction of the centre on November 12 last year, the source added.

The centre, which is planned for completion within two years time, will help in collecting information about the level of rainfall, weather patterns, river water levels, apart from helping in flood management.

If the centre is completed, it will aid in preventing floods or safeguarding against flood by providing prior information as well as other helpful suggestions or recommendations to the authority concerned the source added.