Dibrugarh: While the traditional monsoon season is still months away, the Brahmaputra River has already begun its aggressive seasonal expansion, triggering massive erosion in the Balijan and Bogoritolia areas of Dibrugarh. Triggered by unseasonal heavy rainfall over the past few days, the river has surged, swallowing significant portions of the Balijan Tea Estate and leaving locals in a state of panic.The most visible casualty of the recent erosion is the Balijan Tea Estate. Locals watched in dismay as rows of high-quality tea bushes — representing years of cultivation — collapsed into the churning brown waters.“We are living in fear. If the river is this hungry in March, what will be left of us by June when the monsoon arrives? Last year, we watched our neighbours lose everything. This year, the water has come for our workplace before the rains have even started,” said Montu Tanti, a plantation worker of Balijan Tea Estate.Despite efforts by the water resources department to fortify the banks, the Brahmaputra’s current has proven too powerful for existing infrastructure. RCC porcupines and geo-mega tubes, installed to break the river’s velocity and encourage siltation, have largely failed to stem the tide in the Balijan sector.Residents claim these measures are “mere Band-Aids” which has failed to serve its purpose.The timing of this erosion has sparked a wave of anxiety among the people. Historically, the Brahmaputra reaches its peak intensity during June and July. Last year’s monsoon saw at least two dozen houses swept away in the Balijan area alone, displacing families who are still struggling to rebuild.“The river doesn’t follow a calendar anymore. The fact that we are seeing tea bushes swept away in early spring suggests a very volatile monsoon season ahead. We need a permanent solution to the erosion problem,” Dharani Gogoi, a local said.
