Last year?s flood turned the city?s roads into canals

March 1: International experts are converging in the city this Sunday to deliberate on the problem of river sedimentation and bank erosion with special reference to flood management.

A special lecture session has been organised by the Institution of Engineers (India), in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology. The lectures will be delivered at the Institution of Engineers at Panbazar.

Zhaoyin Wang of the department of hydraulic engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Joseph H. W. Lee, professor at the Civil Engineering University of Hong Kong, Chyan Deng Jan of National Cheng-Kung University Taiwan and Nani Gopal Bhowmik of University of Illinois, will deliver lectures.

The organisers said that as floods pose an annual problem in China as well, the experts might be able to give valuable tips for the flood problem of the city.

The deposition of silt after floods leads to blockage of drains creating problem in discharge of water. The problem is rampant and the city stands paralysed after a heavy shower.

Officials said Brahmaputra carries a huge amount of silt and dredging has not been of much use. After each operation, silt gets deposited in some other area.

?The recommendations should be taken very seriously from these lectures. It may be very expensive to implement but it at least gives us some direction to find a way out,? an official said.

Central Water Commission officials have gone on record saying heavy rainfall in the upstream areas was responsible for the floods in Guwahati last year.

?If this trend of heavy rainfall continues, the situation be worse next year,? an official of the commission said.

The experts are also taking part in an international conference on environmental fluid mechanics, which is being organised by the Indian Institute of Technology from Thursday to Saturday.