ES Reporter

PASIGHAT/MEBO, Aug 8: Parts of Mebo sub-division and other low lying areas under East Siang are experiencing strange and abnormally high tides in the Siang River, flooding hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, forest areas and human habitation. At the same time, the flow of the river upstream is normal as usual with areas close to the riverbank remaining unaffected.

“This phenomenon is something that we have never seen before in Siang River. But one thing is for sure; the tides are extremely strange and unnatural, not natural upwelling,” said Advisor to CM and local MLA, Lombo Tayeng, who after the strange sighting issued an advisory on Wednesday for villages along the river to remain alert.

Tayeng suspects that contributing factors which caused the anomalous high tide could be changing weather pattern or pushing backward water current from below.

“Siang River is unpredictable but it’s uncommon to have anomalies like this considering the intensity and type of unnatural changes now occurring,” he added.

Describing the condition of the flood affected areas, he added:  “Abnormal tides have been running unusually high in a very normal weather condition and concentrated only in Mebo areas, while the flow of current is completely still in upstream Namsing and its adjoining areas.”

Tayeng, however, contended that “it's too early to comment as to how the unexpected tidal wave is occurring but assumed factors causing the high waters could be a part of normal variability.”

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Tayeng took up the matter on emergency basis with Chief Minister Pema Khandu who then directed the Secretary, Disaster Management to depute a team to monitor the tides for better understanding of the phenomena and to fully examine the possible causes for the unusual occurrence.

It is to be mentioned here that the extraordinary sight in the mighty Siang River has come too fast to be attributed to changing weather patterns or anything quite that dramatic, but the unusual spectacle has set alarm bells ringing of a bigger ecological problem, which warrants greater attention and concern.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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