×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Biotech dept plans floating laboratory on Brahmaputra

Last Updated 21 September 2017, 19:49 IST
The Department of Biotechnology plans to convert a large boat into a floating laboratory on the Brahmaputra to study the ecology and biodiversity of the mighty river in unprecedented details for better river and flood management.

The Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat (B4) would start functioning by December 2017 with a rented platform. The boat will cover the entire region starting from Pasighat to Dibrugarh, Neemati, Tezpur and Guwahati.

Subsequently, DBT plans to buy a barge worth nearly Rs 40 crore and attach it with strings of smaller vessels, drone boats and quad-copters for examining the entire Brahmaputra, some of its 22 tributaries and Majuli river island.

The boat will have instruments to analyse soil, water, environment, plant and animal life, human health and agriculture. While Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati will anchor the project, the floating laboratory will have links to several other institutes in the North East.

“The information from such research could feed back into decision making on issues such as dealing with floods,” said.

K Vijayraghavan, DBT secretary. Using the boat, scientists would constantly monitor he impact of various environmental and anthropological stress factors and conduct research to mitigate their impact.

One of the research topics would be to find out what are the plant species that can be grown along the river banks to prevent soil erosion, which in turn would help control the floods better.

Initially, DBT has set aside Rs 50 crore for the B4 project and more funding is expected from the Department of North East Region, which has agreed in-principle to partner with the DBT.

While one portion of the boat would be turned into a laboratory, the boat will have a second compartment that will act as an outreach wing of the DBT to involve the locals in data collection and teach the students about the fundamentals of biotechnology.

“10% of the DBT budget has been earmarked for the North East region in each of the last years, which we were able to spend. Even in the current fiscal, out of Rs 180 crore earmarked for the NE, close to Rs 120 crore.
ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 21 September 2017, 19:49 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT