Guwahati Mechanical Division of the Water Resources Department (WRD) is engaged in resectioning of the Bharalu and the Mora Bharalu rivers since February last at an estimated cost of Rs 1.3 crore under a Guwahati Development Department (GDD)-sponsored scheme. Sources in the WRD said that removal of silt from the Bharalu is completed in its reach between the Jonali PWD RCC Bridge on the RG Baruah Road and Bishnupur behind the Arya Vidyapeeth College. Between Bishnupur and Bharalumukh, the riverbed below the bridges over the river too has been cleaned.. Widening of the Bharalu is also going on in its Agriculture Campus Bridge-Cherapbhati Bridge stretch. The Kamrup (Metro) district administration has evicted the encroachers from the riverbank in this stretch for the purpose. Widening of the river will be done in the rest of its channel in a phased manner. The Kamrup (Metro) district administration is also freeing the encroachment on the western bank of the river on the Rajgarh Bridge within a day or two, said sources. Large-scale encroachment on the Mora Bharalu has been removed between Fatasil and Bhaskar Nagar and a few unauthorized bridges and temples on its bank have been demolished, with several other such structures being removed soon. The drive to remove the silt from the river in the Fatasil- Bhaskar Nagar stretch is on. Resectioning of the Mora Bharalu is done between Bhaskar Nagar and the Interstate Bus Terminus (ISBT) on the by-pass of the National Highway-37, sources said. The Mora Bharalu has a discharge capacity of 45 cubic metres per second (Cumecs) with a slope of about two metres from Fatasil to the ISBT point. If the full discharge capacity of the river is restored to it, it will help improving the ability of city's drainage system so far as storm water drainage is concerned. It will raise the joint discharge capacity of the Bharalu and the Mora Bharalu to 52 Cumecs during the flood season. Though the natural discharge capacity of the Bharalu is 72 Cumecs when its Bharalumukh sluice gates are kept open, the pumps fitted to its sluice gates can discharge only seven Cumecs. This creates a major problem for the city during the rainy season when the sluice gates remain closed to prevent backflow of Brahmaputra floodwater. The WRD engineers are of the opinion that two service roads are required along both banks of both the rivers for maintenance of their courses. The Guwahati East Division of the WRD is executing a drive to remove water hyacinth and silts from the Basistha and a part of the Bahini. The GDD has provided a sum of Rs 50 lakh for the purpose, said the sources. The Bahini, separated from the Basistha river at Patarkuchi near the Basistha-Beltola Chariali, carries the run-off of the Meghalaya foothill areas along with that of the Koinadhara-Khanapara area of the city. The Basistha river was diverted by the WRD to the Deepor Beel via Pamohi river, to save the Beltola, Hatigaon, Dispur etc areas in the southeastern part of the city, from the flash floods caused by the run-off from the Meghalaya hills. The Bahini had a natural width of 8.5 metres throughout its course between National Highway- 37 and Jonali PWD RCC Bridge. Now its width has been reduced by encroachers throughout its channel. At places, its width has come down even to three metres. The civil administration and the WRD jointly evicted such encroachers, particularly in Beltola and Rukminigaon areas, in 2001. But encroachers are back again, said the sources. Meanwhile, the State Government has decided to raise the height of the Jonali Bridge to facilitate smooth passage of floodwater, said the sources.