Mr. Benjamin Kaman has recently co-authored a book
“Hydrological Gauging of Small watersheds”. Born into a middle class teacher family, Mr. Kaman went onto becoming an engineer and is currently serving as working as Soil and Water Conservation Engineer in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (NRCP, ICAR), Goalpara since 2006. A member of various international and national professional societies, carries a strong urge of serving the Mising community.
MisingOnline conducted a small electronic interview with Mr. Kaman over the mail. The excerpts of the same are given below.
MO: Tell us more about you and your family?Benjamin Kaman: I was born in Dhemaji in 1975 to Mr. Tarun Chandra Kaman (Retired Principal, Dhemaji Higher Secondary School) and Mrs. Binapani Kaman. My wife is Mrs. Minakshi Borah (MSc in Home Science) and now we have a girl child Mrinmoyee.
I completed schooling from Dhemaji Higher Secondary School in 1990 and then obtained Higher Secondary education from Cotton College in 1992. Thereafter I obtained B.E. (Civil Engineering) and M.E. (Civil Engineering with specialization in Watershed Management) from Assam Engineering College, Guwahati in 1996 and 2001 respectively. Professional career began as guest Lecturer in Assam Engineering College, Guwahati for a year (2000-2001) and then worked as Research Associate in Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Umiam, Meghalaya during 2001 to 2006. Presently I am working as Soil and Water Conservation Engineer in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (NRCP, ICAR), Goalpara since 2006. I am a member of several international and national professional societies. I am also coordinating Mising section of XOBDO- the only online dictionary of North Eastern languages.
MO:What is the book "Hydrological Gauging of Small Watersheds" about? Kaman: Watershed is an area, rain falling over which contributes runoff to a single stream. Watershed Management refers to judicious management of soil, vegetation and water resources for optimized production. Hydrology is the science of water, which is the most vital component for plant and animal life, and for soil conservation and fertility. Hydrology deals with occurrence, circulation and distribution of water.
Investigation of component processes or hydrological gauging is necessary for understating hydrological response of a watershed to climate. The book discusses procedures for gauging various hydrological components of small hilly watersheds. The book provides information on various aspects of hydrological gauging of small hilly watersheds in Indian conditions and post processing operations. The book is expected to guide Engineers, Scientists and Technicians in hydrological measurement and analysis to desired level of accuracy and interpretation at standard norms.
MO: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey on co-authoring this book? How did you end up becoming a part of the book, what researches did you carry out, what were your struggles and difficulties faced during writing the book?Kaman: Brahmaputra basin covering North East Region is one among the water rich basins in the world. Annual available water potential of the region is 585.60 km3, which is 31.33% of the National potential. Erosion potential is very high in the region because the basin is highly undulating and also experiences heavy annual rainfall of about 5100mm to 6400mm in Arunachal Hills and 2500mm to 5400 mm in Brahmaputra plains. As surface water flow through the region, it carries vast amount of sediment also, which is estimated as 735 Million Tones per year which is equivalent to 2.01 Million Tonnes of sediment everyday.
However micro level hydrological studies are yet to be taken up. Reference or guide book on hydrological gauging is not readily available for micro level hydrological studies.
I was working on hydrological studies of small watersheds in ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani. During the period of work with Dr. K. K. Satapathy (Head & Principal Investigator, now Director, NIRJAFT (ICAR), Kolkata), we received requests from officials of North Eastern states visiting the institute for various trainings/workshops on the need of a book on hydrological gauging. Various agencies implementing watershed projects find it difficult to report on hydrological status of the watersheds for lack of reference book. Dr. Satapathy suggested that we should compile a book and we started.
MO: >How would the book help the people of North-east (Especially Mising people)?Kaman: Some important features of small watersheds in hills of North East India are steep slopes, high rainfall and high erosion potentiality. It is very important to investigate and estimate these hydrological component processes for any developmental or conservation planning. To study hydrology of small watersheds, basic components to be observed are rainfall, interception, runoff and soil loss. Estimation of the component processes will help in formulating proper conservation measures for reducing peak runoff (thereby reducing flood), reducing soil loss (thereby reducing sediment deposition in riverbeds), and sustainable production. It will not only improve the environmental condition of the hills but also the general improvement of the communities living in foot hills. It is expected that Mising peoples are going to be benefited since the community is being mostly affected in the past few decades.
MO: Is the book written for a limited audience or whole of the common people? Kaman: The target groups of the book are Engineers, Scientists and Technicians involved in water resource research and development activities in hilly areas. It aims to provide ready reference and technical guidance to these groups of professionals for scientific hydrological gauging of small hilly watersheds.
MO: >Tell us about your views on our website www.misingonline.com? Kaman: I am very much thankful for launching the website misingonline. I was suggesting Dr. Anil Pegu ( of Mising Agom Ke'bang) also on the necessity of such a platform. I wish all of you the best for the future.
MO: Thanks a lot and we wish all the best to you too. It was a pleasure interacting with you.
Kaman: Thanks a lot. 
