Political willingness needed for water management initiative
No matter all the huge efforts put together by experts and stake holders, proper management of the water resources of the State, including the Brahmaputra, will be a distant dream unless political willingness is accommodated in the water management initiatives. This observation was made by the Non Resident Indian Association of Assam, which has urged all the authorities concerned to take a serious approach to managing the enormous water resources for speedy economic development of the State. In a seminar organised by the NRI Association of Assam recently at its office premises in the city, water resources engineering expert of Texas, USA and hony adviser of river linking project initiated by the Government of Assam, Barada Charan Sarma stressed on the need for political willingness to resolve the problems created by the water resources. He dwelled at length on ways for solution of the devastating flood and erosion problems of Assam, and boosting development activities like power generation by utilising the vast water resources of the Brahmaputra. "To achieve these goals we all should understand that political accommodation will be necessary with regard to the development of the Brahmaputra,' he remarked. Members of the Association who took part in the seminar narrated their experiences verging on the nightmarish at the time of a smart downpour in the capital city. Earlier, Dr Karuna Sagar Das, general secretary of the Association explained its aims and objectives and expressed the NRIs' keen interest to be a part of the welfare activities of their homeland. The seminar was presided over by Dr Anil Ranjan Borthakur, president of the Association.