Premier research-based biodiversity conservation organization Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org) on Friday, November 18, organized an expert lecture on ‘Water Security in the Brahmaputra River Basin in the context of Climate Change’ at its administrative office premises here. The event was held in collaboration between Aaranyak and the US Consulate General in Kolkata.
Dr Nilanthi Samaranayake, an internationally renowned expert on geopolitics and international relations, addressed the participants on the subject broadly and shared her years of knowledge and extensive experience on the subject. She elaborated on the important water related issues influencing various aspects of bilateral and multilateral relations among the countries sharing the basin of the Brahmaputra.
Dr Nilanthi Samaranayake, Research Program Director, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), Washington DC, USA is in India on a U.S. State Department’s public diplomacy speaker program and is hosted by the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata. Before heading to Kolkata to attend a conclave on “Indo-Pacific synergies through the lens of culture”, organized by the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata and Asian Confluence, she visited Guwahati to interact with key stakeholders and partners.
She highlighted the uniqueness of the river and its strategic significance, she stressed on multilateral cooperation among the basin countries viz. China, Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh and hopes that all the riparian nations will come together to create a common mechanism for managing the vast water resources and ecosystems of the Brahmaputra for mutual benefits.
Appreciating the work done by Aaranyak, a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization recognised by the DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, on climate change adaptation in the Brahmaputra River Basin, she encouraged researchers to do scientific assessments of the disasters like flood and erosion and impact of climate change on the basin and its people.
Prior to the talk, Dr Partha Jyoti Das, senior environmental scientist and Head of Water, Climate & Hazards Division (WATCH) at Aaranyak, enlightened the gathering about Aaranyak’s 20 years long history of work on the Brahmaputra River and its basin.
Participants also had the opportunity to discuss possible measures to be taken regarding Assam’s flood and erosion problems with the river Brahmaputra during the discussion session. Several prominent citizens of Guwahati with expertise and experience in the fields of environment, water resources, journalism, culture etc. took part in the programme.
In addition to Mr Ranjan Bhuyan, President of Aaranyak, experts, officials, researchers, and volunteers, from Aaranyak participated in the event.