Dibrugarh, May 15: Water resources minister Prithibi Majhi today said his department would do whatever possible to save this town from extinction.

During his visit to Mohonaghat in Dibrugarh town this afternoon to take stock of the situation, Majhi assured the people that if required, he would take up the matter of erosion with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The assurance came amid allegations by the Opposition and various Dibrugarh-based organisations that nothing much had been done to tackle erosion at Rohmoria, Nagagholee and Mohonaghat in Dibrugarh district. Rohmoria and Nagagholee fall under the Lahowal constituency represented by Majhi.

The minister allayed fears that Dibrugarh town was in danger and might get eroded at any point of time. “I am also from Dibrugarh. Do you think that I will allow my own town to get eroded?” Majhi asked after being repeatedly questioned by reporters on why his department had failed to take concrete steps to arrest erosion in the district.

Majhi criticised Dibrugarh BJP MLA Prasanta Phukon and Tingkhong AGP MLA Anup Phukon for trying to reap political mileage from erosion in the district.

“I have seen both of them making statements through the press against me and my department. These are nothing but mere political statements which are made by ordinary politicians. If they had genuinely loved Dibrugarh and its people they should have come to me and joined hands to solve the issue,” Majhi said.

The minister was accompanied by the general secretary (administration) of Dibrugarh District Congress Committee, Nityananda Phukon, the chairman of the Dibrugarh Municipal Board, Chandra Kamal Baruah, who is also the general secretary of Dibrugarh DCC, as well as the chairman of the Dibrugarh Development Authority, Bitul Talukdar.

“I am in consultation with chief minister Tarun Gogoi who has assured me of all help to tackle erosion in Dibrugarh district. Funds have never been a constraint and will never be in the future, ” Majhi said.

He was briefed on erosion caused by the Brahmaputra at Mohonaghat by a team of officials from the water resources department led by G. Kalita, the executive engineer of the water resources department, Dibrugarh division.

Majhi said Rs 176 crore was in the pipeline for various anti-erosion schemes to be implemented in Dibrugarh district by various central and state agencies. Of this amount, Rs 71 crore had been sanctioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for strengthening the Dibrugarh Town Protection Dyke, Majhi said. “We hope we can start work by September. By then, the final official formalities will be over and we expect the rainy season to be over, too,” he added.