Human chain to protest Brahmaputra contamination

December 13, 2017 434 Views No Comment

Activists of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) forming a human chain while staging a protest on the bank of river Brahmaputra, in Guwahati. The protesters were demanding from the Central and State Governments to take steps to make the river pollution free.

More than 300 students from various academic institutions in the city came together to form a human chain at Uzanbazar Ghat in protest against the government’s “inaction” on the contamination of the Brahmaputra. The protest was organized by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).

“BJP came to power in the state with a promise to protect jati, mati, bheti (community, land and homestead). We are highly dissatisfied with the role of the ruling government as they haven’t shown any promptness in trying to unearth the causes behind this serious calamity,” president of the All Guwahati Students’ Union Rajmil Ali said.

Soon after reports emerged of the waters of the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh turning black, the Brahmaputra was also found to be turbid. The Siang is the principal constituent of the Brahmaputra. It joins the Lohit and Dibang rivers to form the Brahmaputra. A large section of Assamese population is dependent on the Brahmaputra for day-to-day activities. Last week, the government admitted that the water is unfit for drinking.

The student body demanded that the Centre expedite talks with China to resolve the matter. Construction work by China is believed to have polluted the waters though it has denied having any role.

Aasu has already demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention into the issue. The Assam government has sent samples collected from the Brahmaputra river to the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT)-Hyderabad and IIT-Guwahati to unearth the causes behind the river water turning muddy and black.

Source: Times of India