Amanpreet Kaur Washisht
It has become difficult to judge whether The Brahmaputra and Barak rivers during the monsoon are a boon or a bane, a cause of regular devastation in the land of Assam.
Water is life but too much of anything is bad. Natural overload of rains apart, it is the human contribution that turns it into a manmade disaster that hits the state every year. Are the Government measures sufficient? Is rest of India hearing the dreadful screams of this Northeastern State?
Since childhood, I have observed that ‘Floods in Assam’ was an important topic for academics, but in the recent years I have been regularly face to face with the plight of people and animals and the pitiful state of affairs engineered by floods every year during the monsoon and the Government inaction. The way things stood on July 21 almost three fourth Assam was under submerged conditions. Things are no better today.
On one side where the water level in The Brahmaputra is rising, the difficulties faced by the people and animals are humongous. Then the Covid-19 pandemic is adding to the flood fury. What is more shocking is that where 92 people have died – 26 died in other incidents of landslides — in 24 of the 33 districts, and over 25 lakhs have been affected by the deluge in over nearly 2,250 villages, a major part of India is still unaware that the annual natural calamity of this beautiful state is turning ugly!
Adding to the dismal reality is the fact that an unusually large number of wild animals are either dead or dying. More number of one-horned rhinos have died due to water-logging than killed by the poachers every year. Nearly 9.5 lakh big and over 4.65 lakh small animals are affected till date. A total of 111 hog deers, 18 wildboars, 17 rhinos, 12 sambars, seven swamp deers, three porcupines, two water buffaloes and one elephant have drowned in Kaziranga National Park, almost 90 per cent under water. As a result hapless animals have come out on highways to protect themselves. Many others have been killed after hitting moving vehicles. Nearly 120 Kaziranga park animals have died. Things are no better in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary where 12 camps have been affected. Less said about the crop the better due to inundation.
The question that comes to mind is why does it occur every year? And maximum times, the answer we give ourselves is that it is a natural calamity caused because of the geomorphology and physiographic layout of the State.
No doubt that the climatic factors of Assam are quite responsible for the floods but human misadventures have added more to the devastation.
True the mighty Brahmaputra which originates from the Tibetan Himalayas has a major role to play also. During the summer time the glaciers melt and coinciding with excessive monsoon downpour intensify the downstream flow.
The landslides caused by repeated earthquakes in Assam release debris into the river causing it to swell up. Building dams in high hill areas is also a key cause of this yearly tragedy. First filling up the dam to capacity and subsequent unregulated release of water from these dams cause floods in the plain areas rendering hundreds of thousands homeless and helpless.
Human encroachment of riverine areas and unplanned, rather chaotic development attempts, across the river systems in the state are other major areas of concern. We have built bridges, embankments and roads mindlessly restricting the natural flow of water. In Assam, the back flow of water is now a common occurrence which leads to breaking of embankments.
BATTING WITH RIGHT HAND WITH LEFT TIED BEHIND BACK
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has instructed the authorities of the affected districts to reach out to the flood-hit people. In the same breath they have been told to adhere to the Covid-19 safety protocols during the relief-and-rescue operations. It is like asking someone to bat with right hand, while your left is tied behind your back. There have been assurances from the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, who also looks after the Ministry of Floods and Disaster Management to adopt latest technologies in flood managements. Things have yet to fructify.
But in a situation where Coronavirus has already hit hard, the matter of providing rescue to the flood victims is a challenge for all NGOs and associations. Covid-19 manual advocates ‘Stay at Home’ policy, the devastating floods in are dragging people out, as their homes and fields are either washed away or under several feet of water. Still many student associations and other bodies are trying their level best whatever they can.
This combination of both health and natural disaster has been playing with the affecting the mental balance of the people of Assam. If weather reports are any indication more rains are expected in days to come.
Well, it is not out of place to say that after so many years of Independence Assam is not free from the curse of floods which are turning to become an ignored natural yet national calamity year after year. Deep down everyone demands that the sufferings of the people of Assam should wake up the Centre and get all the necessary help and measures to be taken for a long-term safety and growth of this naturally blessed yet jinxed state!
Amanpreet Kaur Washisht is a first year BA LLB (Hons) student of Law Faculty of Gauhati University, Gauhati (Guwahati). She belongs to Nagaon district of Assam
Email author: akaurwashisht@gmail.com
This is the second part of the series curated by Professor Avinash Singh on Assam Floods
It was an out-of-the-blue message from a complete stranger. A line in introduction and this first year BA LLB student of Faculty of Law, Gauhati University wanted help in highlighting Assam floods. Amanpreet Kaur Washist was to the point, brief and crisp and felt genuinely for the annual sufferings of people in her State.
Still in the last year of her teens, this daughter of a medium-sized workshop owner impressed me with her resolve and so did her brother Kanwal Jit Singh Washisht, a student of final year MSc Zoology at Central University, Sikkim through the next message. Clarity of their thought was reflected in their confidence…READ MORE
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