The world is changing very rapidly but one thing is ridiculously constant – the ruthless never-ending flood issue of Asaam. The horror becomes more horrible and never changes even year after year, haunting the people living nearby the Brahmaputra. Local people have been voicing over from ages to declare it a National Problem but the centre is pretty reluctant to give an ear.
This year the devastating flood in Assam has directly affected 4.5 million people. The death toll is about 100. Almost 7 lakh people have taken shelter in camps. When we say camps, it’s just a higher piece of land, on the bank of Brahmaputra, amidst continuous rain with hardly any roof. Sometimes few local NGOs arrange plastic tripal shades.
The numbers of these unorganised shades are not adequate and crowds of people are living inside these unorganised temporary places. The next challenges these poor citizens face are shortage of food, drinking water and basic sanitation. These people who live in the ‘Char’ area which is nothing but extended banks of the river are mainly farmers. They have cattle and these also face the same problem every year, almost a quarter of each year.
Well, Assam’s flood is not a sudden phenomenon deserving a Twitter trend. This happens every year. And unfortunately, it remains a means for many to do politics with the Char inhabitants to gain access in mainstream politics. The problem however lies as it is and is worsening day by day. It’s so habitual that the political leaders nowadays just avoid talking about it.
The Brahmaputra is expanding and exploding every season. There were expert opinions to do deep digging, outflowing water in connecting rivers and many more. Experts from the US, Europe also came, took time and gave suggestions but all went in vain.
Even in the state capital, the water level in the Brahmaputra river crossed the danger mark 49.68 several times as reported by District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). In the entire state, in the first wave itself, the flood affected around 24.3 lakh people in over 2,254 villages across 24 districts of Assam so far as per Assam State Disaster Management’s report. Over 48,000 people are now taking shelter in 468 relief camps and centres set up across the state. More than 1,00,000 hectares of crop area is now submerged under water with close to 24 lakh domestic animals, both big and small, affected by the disaster. The second wave of flood has inundated 544 villages, affecting 5,51,207 population in Dhubri and around 10 thousand hectares of cropland have been submerged under water.
According to the flood report of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 96 villages and a population of 2,07,014 under Dhubri Revenue Circle have been affected by the flood. Similarly, under Gauripur, Golokganj, Agomoni, Chapar, Bilasipara, Athani and South Salmara revenue circles, the number of villages affected by the ongoing flood is 68, 06, 25, 34, 39, 112 and 164 respectively.
Meanwhile, the floodwater has already clogged most of the drains in Dhubri town and started entering inside the town by crossing the GTB, at various places. The flood has affected all the wards under Dhubri municipal area, and thousands of houses have been submerged.
Many government offices, mainly the office of the district election officer, the inspector of schools, Social Welfare Office have been under the flood, few schools of the district have also been reported to be under knee-deep water.
As per the reports, there are 1,688 inmates living in 21 relief camps of the district while thousands of families have so far been shifted to the highland areas mainly on the roadside of National Highway and other safe places.
While talking with the victims, one can easily sense the ultimate pain they are facing especially amidst the fear of Corona. Char residents like Mafida Khatun and Baten Ali are severely affected with the flood. They are literally stranded in their inundated house without any support from the administration or the elected representatives. Their young children are at the higher risk of drowning. Mafida already lost her 7 years son in this year’s flood as he was not able to swim back against the current of the river.
The first wave of floods in Assam disrupted Khatun’s regular life and made things even more difficult. She has been helpless and had to move her house multiple times because of erosion of river Beki. She and her family live an unstable life on the riverbank. Women labourers are paid much lesser wages than men. She was unemployed during the Covid-19 lockdown. She has no savings to live on during the annual floods. She is braving all odds to ensure a better future for her children.
Homes, crops and cattle have been washed away in the floodwater.
Most of the flood camps set up in the Char areas are not recognised by the administration. Unrecognised camps are not entitled to get government relief. Due to flood and erosion Char residents get displaced and lose their crops every year. Because of constant displacement, these people are deprived of the government-sponsored safety net schemes.
The Char people of Assam are facing the brunt of rapid change in the river. The riverbed is widening, sand deposition is increasing and a large number of fish species are going extinct. Floods are getting more intense and unpredictable. Traditional agricultural practices are vanishing. Along with ecological challenges like flood, erosion and soil degradation, their citizenship rights are at the stake.
Karim Ali spent five years in Goalpara Detention Centre. All the members of his family, including his siblings and children are Indian but he was declared a foreign national by a tribunal. While he was in detention, his family suffered immense hardship. In a story shared with a local media, Karim and his wife discussed their suffering which gives goosebumps.
Menstrual hygiene is a big challenge for the young women inmates in the camp. Food scarcity is affecting the women most. They are sharing living space with cattle.
It’s worth noting that Assam is among the most flood-prone states in India. An assessment by the Rashtriya Barh Ayog (RBA) identified 3.105 million hectares in the state, or about 40 per cent of Assam’s total land area as flood prone. Assam accounts for 9.4 per cent of the total land area vulnerable to flooding in India. However, the issue is yet to be declared National Disaster. The border state of Assam does not get attention like North Indian states though it has a huge share in total revenue of the country from natural resources. The response from civil societies is also not encouraging. The assistance from national level NGOs is almost absent. This scribe, who visited few areas of Barpeta District with food relief sent by Karimganj Muslim Academy, a South Assam based charity organisation, observed that the presence of prominent aid agencies is almost zero. It’s as if flood affected people of Assam were left in the care of none.