Kamal Ghorui
Guwahati: As poll campaigning gathers steam, people have intensified their demand for urgent govt intervention to clean and restore ecologically significant, yet heavily polluted water bodies, spanning across the city.For years, river channels have suffered from unchecked dumping of waste, encroachment, and inflow of untreated sewage, turning them into a source of concern rather than lifelines. Locals say foul odour, waterlogging and heightened health risks have made life miserable for people.
The Bharalu river channel, which was originally a storm-water reservoir, has been reduced to a mere drain over the years. People living nearby in the Bhaskarnagar area that straddles across ward numbers 20 and 21 of Guwahati central constituency have flagged health risks posed by the polluted Bharalu. “We have been living with the stench emanating from the Bharalu for years. It is almost unbearable now,” said Binoy Deb, a resident of the area.In Ward No. 18 located in the same constituency, the Borsola wetland, which has a significant potential to be developed as a tourist destination, continues to remain in a deplorable state due to garbage dumping. The waterbody receives sewage from other places. Its outflow is channelled through sluice gates on the southern side of the wetland into the Bharalu, which eventually merges with the Brahmaputra. “Although the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has installed a 2MLD (million litres per day) sewage treatment plant (STP), the plant’s capacity is far below what is needed,” said Rabindra Nath, a voter and president of ‘Save Bharalu’, a citizens’ forum.Nath said the only viable solution is to trap drain water and channel it into STP. “This process would help produce cleaner water, while the solid waste extracted during treatment could be repurposed as manure,” he added.The forum demanded that political parties must commit to this issue in their election manifestos as urban voters are increasingly linking environmental governance with electoral accountability.
