Wary of the rising number of deaths caused by landslides over the last several years, the State Government is finally trying to put in a concerted effort to negate the impact of this natural disaster. In a move towards it, the State government today launched an anti-erosion-cum-water conservation project at the historic Gandhi Mandap atop Sarania hills, which aims at not only solving the erosion problem but also supplying drinking water to the households residing in and around the hills. The State Government-aided project will be implemented jointly by the Soil Conservation department and Plank Infratech, an US-based architecture firm with technical assistance from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. The Rs 30-lakh project includes excavation of water harvesting ponds at the hills, renovation of catch water drainage system as well as boulder gabion retaining wall for scientific solution of erosion. Soil Conservation department officer Jiten Malakar, while briefing about the project, elaborated that the project would check haphazard flow of run-off water from top of the hills and would also resist the landslides. Conceding that the rising death toll due to landslides have emerged as a major threat, Malakar stressed the need for master plan to combat the problem, which has aggravated due to man-made problems like encroachment. "Besides, the project, at the same time, would strive for water harvesting, which should be able to reduce the problem of water scarcity in the area,' Malakar pointed out. "For the last several years we have seen that the Sarania hill is more vulnerable to killer landslides due to the absence of a scientific drainage system. People residing here face acute water crisis despite the hills receiving annual average rainfall of 160 cm because of lack of water harvesting facilities,' he said. Malakar further said that the project has been launched on experimental basis and once successful will be implemented in other hills of the city to control the soil erosion and landslide. "As part of the project, we will improve the drainage system for safe disposal of run-off water,' Malakar said. The water harvesting facilities to be put up at the Gandhi Mandap will retain an estimated 912320 litres of water and will be distributed for use after proper treatments. West Guwahati MLA Robin Bordoloi formally launched the project and hoped that the project would be able to prevent landslides. "The project has already been sanctioned and we are expecting the funds to be released soon. So we have asked the department to start the work,' Bordoloi said. "Residents of the Sarania hill have been facing the threat of landslides for the last many years, especially during the rainy season. With this project, people residing in the greater Sarania hills can finally heave a sigh of relief.