Guwahati: GMC clarifies its stand on covering 'Mora Bharalu' river Tarpaulin, says to avoid mosquito menace

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on April 6 said that covering up 'Mora Bharalu' river with blue tarpaulin is only to avoid mosquito menace.

Taking to its social media handle, the posted a series of photos including the one with the blue tarpaulin over the 'Mora Bharalu' and captioned it saying, "GMC is trying to ensure that our guests aren’t bothered by the mosquito menace."

It is to be mentioned here that, earlier on April 5, netizens along with the opposition parties took a sharp dig at Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for covering the unclean 'Mora Bharalu' River with a blue tarpaulin ahead of the first-ever IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings.

The idea of covering the river has been vehemently criticized by Netizens on social media platforms.

Taking to Twitter, state Congress secretary Gauravv Somani said, “Innovative and excellent arrangments by @GMDAGuwahati to enhance the beauty of Guwahati smart city- the dirty river and drains covered by tarpaulin so that IPL players do not see. That's classic!! @IPL @TheAshokSinghal @himantabiswa  Seems public money to flowing under the tarpaulin (TIRPAL).”

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On the other hand, one of the Twiiterire wrote, "Bharalu river at Guwahati covered with a blue net to "control mosquito menace during IPL T-20 match."Reality - Hiding the dirty Bharalu & Guwahati. I wish the IPL players are told the reality. The blue cover won't cover the Mora Bharalu river behind Barsapara stadium!"

Notably, Mora (dying) Bharalu, is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River. It flows through thickly populated Guwahati before meeting the Brahmaputra.

According to some conservationists, in the last 50 years, the tributary has become akin to a heavily polluted drain, which can also be stated as the root cause of severe artificial flooding in Guwahati city.