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As the flood situation in Assam has visibly improved, can we think about its mitigation, and if that’s not possible in the near future, should we indulge in pragmatic discussions on various adaptation strategies? The second wave of floods snatched away the lives of over a hundred people, damaged more than 25,000 hectares of crop area, devastated 10,50,000 domestic animals and poultry, and temporarily displaced thousands of families. The natural disaster also smashed a number of embankments, roads, bridges, buildings, and other infrastructures in the state. The swollen Brahmaputra river water inundated Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve for days, causing over 200 wild animals, including 10 precious single-horned rhinoceroses, to drown to death.
At its peak, in the first half of July 2024, the deluge hit over 2.7 million people (out of a population of 33 million) in 30 districts of Assam, where more than 3,500 villages were submerged by flood water for many weeks. Thousands of families in the districts of Dhubri, Cachar, Golaghat, Darrang, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Biswanath, Charaideo, Chirang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metropolitan), Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Kokrajhar, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Tinsukia, and Udalguri had to take shelter in over 700 relief camps set up by the district administration. The muddy floodwater from the Brahmaputra, Barak, Kushiyara, Subansiri, Burhi Dihing, Dikhou, Disang, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Puthimari, Kapili, Beki, Dhaleswari, Pagladiya, Burhadiya, and other rivers inundated a large area of cropland across the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has recently won a consecutive third term in New Delhi, assured full cooperation to the state government to deal with the situation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also called Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to reassure all possible support from the Centre. Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Pabitra Margherita, both hailing from Assam, assessed the flood situation in different parts and assured that the governments in New Delhi and Dispur are looking for a permanent solution to the recurring flood menace. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria also visited some flood-ridden areas and took stock of the situation. CM Sarma personally visited a number of flood-devastated areas to review the ground situation and interacted with the displaced families. He also directed the state ministers, legislators, and concerned officials to monitor the situation closely and take necessary actions as and when needed.
Continued rescue operations were carried out by the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and military personnel in various parts of the state. Various civil society groups and socio-cultural organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh extended support to the flood-affected residents and provided phenyl, bleaching powder, livestock feed, and other essentials to address the post-flood diseases. A large part of Guwahati, naturally a bowl-shaped lowland, also witnessed flash floods for several days. Amidst the chaos, a minor boy was swept away in the Bamunimaidan area of the city by the current of flood water, and his body was recovered three days later from a drain in the Rajgarh locality. The victim, identified as Avinash Sarkar (8), was returning home to the Noonmati locality with his father during the evening hours amidst rains when he fell into a roadside drain to his death. Kaziranga Forest Reserve was under floodwater for many days, and reportedly 212 wild animals, including over 180 deer, died due to drowning and other causes. The park authority, however, rescued 143 animals, including two rhino calves, and 123 animals were released after necessary treatments. The field director, Sonali Ghosh, informed media persons that most of the forest camps (out of 233) inside the park were under flood water for days. The safe habitat for the largest population of rhinos in the world experiences flooding every year. As the core 430-square-kilometer area (now extended to 1,300 sq km) goes under water, the animals take refuge in the highlands erected inside it. Many animals also try to cross National Highway 715 on its southern border to climb the hilly areas of Karbi Anglong. While crossing the highway, some animals are killed by speeding vehicles, and hence the authorities instruct drivers to maintain a safe speed limit to avoid any unwanted incidents. Often, vehicles are escorted by forest officials while crossing the park to prevent accidents with fleeing animals. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which shelters more than 2,600 one-horned rhinos along with Asiatic elephants, water buffalo, royal Bengal tigers, and a variety of birds, faced a major flood in 2017 when over 350 animals, including 24 rhinos, died due to drowning and colliding with moving vehicles on the highway.
Otherwise, the number of poaching incidents in Kaziranga has been reduced in the last few years, thanks to the stringent laws against poachers, the strengthening of ground staff inside the protected forest areas, and increasing public awareness in the fringe localities. Statistics reveal that the highly protected Kaziranga lost two adult rhinos in January to poachers, who took away the horns to earn an attractive amount of money from the illegal wildlife markets. Last year, Kaziranga witnessed one rhino poaching incident (Manas National Park also lost one rhino to poachers), preceded by two incidents in 2021 and 2020, whereas three rhinos were killed in 2019.So it took five years to kill 11 rhinos in Assam by poachers, thanks to the brutal laws against poachers, strengthening of ground staff inside the protected forest areas, and increasing public awareness in the fringe localities of forest reserves. Needless to mention, Assam recorded a zero rhino-poaching year in 2022, drawing the attention of world conservationists. But a single wave of floods in Kaziranga killed 10 rhinos this year. The flood, erosion, and storms have also killed more than 110 people in Assam and put thousands of families in relief camps for days. Thousands of families also face permanent displacement from their ancestral villages. In the post-flood period, various vector-borne diseases strike the villagers and mount their troubles.Besides Assam, its neighboring states like Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram also experienced torrential rains and subsequent flooding. Heavy rains inflated the rivers of Manipur, namely Imphal, Thoubal, Nambul, and Iril, submerging a large area of arable land and residential localities. The overpowered Brahmaputra and other rivers inundated a large area of neighboring Bangladesh, where 40,000 people were forced to take shelter in government-run relief camps. The recent wave of floods in northern Bangladesh affected 17 districts (out of 64 units). Major rivers like Jamuna, Ganges-Padma, Surma-Meghna, Teesta, etc., were flowing within the danger mark. No less than two million people faced the flood’s fury, and at least ten people lost their lives due to the disaster.So it’s high time to mitigate the perennial floods in Assam. Often, government schemes (mostly embankment-centric) are announced and implemented, but they work partially only. Once, we talked about controlling the floods (so the flood-control department existed) and now admit we have to adopt ways to live with floods. The flood-prone Brahmaputra valley witnessed major devastation in 2004 when the deluge affected 12.4 million people and claimed 251 lives. Heavy devastation was also witnessed in the 1998 and 1988 floods in Assam. When flood mitigation seems too difficult, discussions should focus on minimizing the devastating impact with proper policies.Recently, the Union government proposed creating at least 50 large ponds in the state, where the extra volume of Brahmaputra water will be stored temporarily to reduce the intensity of destruction. Many natural lakes on the river banks are also expected to be cleaned up to carry out additional activities like agriculture, irrigation, pisciculture, and tourism. New Delhi should continue pursuing upper riparian countries like Bhutan and Tibet (now under China) for timely alerts about unusual high rainfalls and hydropower activities (including damming water resources) in their places. It’s also time for the government to redefine the flood adaptation measures so that some positive outcomes may reach the common people.
