In Assam, this took place after the weather suddenly changed with heavy rains starting in one part of the state and floods in the other part of the state. The damage is abundant to crops and animals. In some parts of Assam, the land in the hills began collapsing and, in some places, the river erosion has started. In the middle of this, there was also a mild earthquake.

Harrowing images showing submerged lands have been shared with Sabrang India.

Triggered by the Cyclone Remal, Assam has already been grappling with severe floods that have left four people dead and homeless, and above 42000 people and affected millions of people. All trains have been cancelled that pass through south Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram as the railway tracks have been flooded. Over 35,000 people have been moved to relief camps.

Video by Mominur Islam, CJP volunteer. South Salmara-Mankachar.

As per Sabrang India’s ground sources, two of the most affected areas are Cachar and Karimganj districts. The districts most severely impacted by the flooding include Nagaon, Hailakandi, Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Cachar, Hojai, Golaghat, and West Karbi Anglong.

PTI has reported Cachar has seen over112,246 residents severely affected by the floods, with. 37,000 people affected in Karimganj, 22,058 in Hojai, and 14,308 in Hailakandi.

In Cachar Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi of the Barak Valley, the Barak River and its tributaries – Kushiara, Longai, Kushiara, Singla, and Katakhal, are all flowing above the danger levels. There have been several landslides in many villages in Cachar, Hailakandi and Dima Hasau. Similarly, heavy erosion has also been noted in Silchar and Udharbond under the Cachar District. The heavy pouring that continued the entire night has resulted in a sudden rise of water level which has been reportedly increasing at a rate of 1.5 metres every hour on average. Meanwhile the tributaries like Singla, Longai, Jatinga, Dhaleswari and Mathura have also been overflowing.

As of now, the water level of the Barak River has crossed the danger mark at Annapurna Ghat point. The danger level is 19.83 metres but it is continually rising now 21.54 metres as of May 31.

Harrowing visuals of the flood have come from Silchar. Sabrang India’s team spoke to Professor Seema Ghosh, who said that in 2022 the same spot had seen a flood. The state government showed that it spent a staggering Rs 65 crores on sluice gates (a type of gate to manage water flow) but this has not helped the people at all. “There is destruction everywhere.”

Video by Dr Sima Ghosh from Silchar.

During the nightmarish 2022 floods in Assam last year saw the highest water level recorded at in Silchar’s Annapurna Ghat at 21.59 metres. The floods two years ago had killed over 100 people in the state.

The Brahmaputra valley has witnessed heavy rains and cyclone rages after a sudden cyclone on May 27th and 28th caused heavy damage in various districts of Brahmaputra valley, 8 young school-going children have been reported dead so far. A young boy named Mintu Talukder who fell from a tree in Kamrup District died. In the same district, another child died while sleeping at home due to a landslide. Several school children were injured with even one death after a school bus was destroyed by falling trees at Dhekiajuli of Sonitpur District. Two more school children aged 5 and 7 died sunk in water in Barpeta District whose name were Md. Habib and Abul Hussain while they are going to school on May 30. Another accident took place when a student of class one died in a terrible accident while going to school with his mother at Bilsapara of Dhubri District. His mother survived but is in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in Chirang, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Dhubri, Barpeta, South-Salmara, Cachar,Baksa, Karimganj Districts and some other parts of Assam.

The deadly Cyclone Remal has severely affected West Bengal, Bangladesh and Assam as well as other North Eastern states such as Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. According to reports, 29 people have died in landslides in Mizoram and 5 more people are missing as search operations continue.

Related: 

 Narmada floods: Why no output at 1200 MW dam power house for 10 days? Asks SANDRP

Himachal Pradesh’s vulnerability to Floods and Landslides increasing

Floods wreak havoc in Assam’s Barak valley

CJP Assam Team perseveres despite heavy rains, floods and landslides

The post Assam in shambles after heavy floods, 2 lakh people affected by the floods appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Shadowed by heavy clouds and the apathy of Indian mainstream media, north-east states’ residents are battling heavy rain, floods and water-logging. Houses and resources have been washed away amidst flooding river-water and landslides, even as people are boarding any means of transport available to gain higher ground. The Assam team of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has been working tirelessly to help locals live through these trying times. They report a grim picture for Barak Valley residents.

Plight in Barak valley

Although 33 out of 35 districts have been affected by floods by June 23, 2022 night, CJP Team’s State in-Charge Nanda Ghosh was particularly concerned about Silchar town and nearby villages.

“The situation of Barak valley, especially in Silchar and nearest villages, is out of control. There is a sudden increase in the Barak river’s water-level. Barak Valley districts Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj were flooded by the rising water of Barak and Kushiara rivers,” said Ghosh.

The ordeal for this town has persisted for the last five days. Hundreds of villages were submerged. In towns, flood water even reached the second-floor of buildings. People stuck inside similar such buildings await rescue personnel. However, Ghosh said there is no help from the administration to provide drinking water, food and medicine to the people until then. And though the Indian media is busy speculating upon the political leanings of the Shiv Sena MLAs who are currently in Assam, it is not bothering to report if any local MLA or MP has reached out to the trapped and helpless people of Assam. Residents told CJP Team that only local youth have ventured out to help fellow citizens.

“There is no medicine, no food, and everything is unhygienic. We are requesting for a few boats to look after our neighbour but they only made one boat available on Thursday,” said a resident of Radha Nagar speaking to CJP Team.

According to official reports, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Border Security Force (BSF) continue with their rescue operations. 54 additional teams of the NDRF have been airlifted for this with another 54 teams about to come.

Such is the sheer volume of the water that it flooded into the Badarpur area by breaking embankments. Ghosh said the administration has yet to reach out to Badarpur residents. One after the other, struggles build up for people in the whole region. A heart-rending challege was reported by Barak folk recently.

No place to cremate, bury the dead

Residents told the CJP Team that there is no place left for cremation. The single place that was operational on Monday was submerged by June 21. Similarly, many prominent areas like Gopalganj, Neelpara, Public School road, Samsan Road are underwater. For now, Ghosh said local Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purakayasthya and some others made temporary arrangements for cremation places for last rituals.

As per the Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report on Thursday, seven out of the 12 deaths reported on that day were confirmed by 4 PM. Two of the deceased were children, one each from Barpeta and Dhubri, while the rest were men from Bajali, Barpeta, Cachar, Dhubri and Tamulpur. All of these deaths were categorised as “flood deaths”.

Unofficial reports claim over a hundred people have lost their lives so far.

Assam’s 33 districts affected

A total of 1,13,485.37 hectares of land has been affected due to the flood. According to Ghosh the flood situation in Assam is worsening day by day.

“Till Thursday, the total number of people affected was 54,57,601 as per the ASDMA. There are 2,71,125 affected people who took shelter in relief camps,” he said.

As per team’s observations, in the Brahmaputra valley area, the worst affected areas include Barpeta with over 11 lakh affected people, followed by around 7 lakh affected people in Kamrup, over 5 lakh affected people each in Dhubri and Nagaon.

As many as 2,07,143 persons in 449 villages of Cachar were affected till June 22 out of which 154 villages are from Katigorah, 85 villages are in Lakhipur, and 98 villages are in Silchar, 76 villages are in Sonai and 36 villages are in Udharbandh. Altogether 129 relief camps were set up in the district. In the Karimganj district, 88,408 persons were affected.

In addition, there was large-scale erosion in Barpeta, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Morigaon, Baksa, and South Salmara-Mankachar districts. As a result, a lot of agricultural land was washed away along with household animals like cows, goats and so on.

“It is going to badly affect the agriculture sector in Assam,” said Ghosh.

Floods have also made it impossible for pregnant women to go to nearby hospitals for medical treatment. CJP Team recollected how locals in the Baghbar constituency of Barpeta recently demanded that the government provide access to boat ambulances in flood-affected areas. This demand came after a pregnant woman was referred from Mandiya hospital to another place for treatment. At the time, local MLA Sherman Ali helped the woman reach the other hospital.

Reacting to all this, Congress MP Gourab Gogoi said, “The BJP has gone blind for power. There are floods in Assam. The Prime Minister should visit the state and announce special package. But he is busy toppling the government of Maharashtra or in Gujarat elections[sic].”

Aside from the government, there is something to be said about the apathy of the media that has altogether ignored the flood situation in north-east India.

What is the mainstream media covering?

All one can see on TV channels and newspaper headlines nowadays is the recent possible-toppling of the Maharashtra government, the scandal regarding the party-change of 40 MLAs and if there is some extra time left, some coverage of Agnipath reports. Yet, barely any prime-time slot in recent days has been dedicated to the state of the people in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Summary reports from NDTV show that 18 people died in Meghalaya in this week alone. Two of its regions, Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, received their highest rainfall since 1940. Around a week ago, the state government had asked for fiscal assistance of ₹ 300 cr. A portion of NH6 at Lum Shnong in East Jaintia Hills was damaged.

The TV channel reported how multiple landslides in the area had disrupted the land commute between Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya to three neighbouring states of Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura. Similarly, water from Subansiri river in Arunachal Pradesh submerged a dam that was under construction for a hydroelectric power project. Yet, a large section of the media has turned a blind eye to this.

Related:

101 die in Assam floods, say ASDMA on Thursday

CJP Assam Team perseveres despite heavy rains, floods and landslides

CJP strengthens commitment to our fellow Indians in Assam in 2021

800 kms, 5 districts: CJP goes the extra mile to locate detention camp inmate’s family

Empowering Assam: CJP goes above and beyond the call of duty

The post Floods wreak havoc in Assam’s Barak valley appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In March this year, SabrangIndia had reported that the next steps in the processes related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) could not be taken on account of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now it appears that the flood situation in the state is going to delay the process even more.

The national lockdown had impacted the already delayed process of issuing rejection slips to those whose names had been left out of the final NRC published on August 31, 2019. These rejection slips bear the reason for rejection of application for inclusion of name in the NRC and are based on speaking orders from hearings that were conducted as a part of the Claims and Objections process. People had been awaiting these slips in order to move forward with the process of defending their citizenship before Foreigners’ Tribunals which was the next step for them. Initially the plan had been to start issuing these slips from March 20, 2020.

But the pandemic threw all plans out of gear. At that time NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma had told SabrangIndia, “No, we will not be able to issue rejection slips from March 20. This is because of the systems put in place due to the corona virus outbreak.”

Shortly afterwards, a national lockdown was announced and though it is being lifted in a staggered manner, several hotspots of infection still remain across the country where a complete lockdown is still in place. But Assam has suffered a double whammy with heavy rains and floods having affected 31 out of the state’s districts. As many as 2,800 villages have been inundated, impacting the lives of over 25 lakh people. Over 40,000 families are now living in government shelters.

Thus, when Prantajyoti, a Bengali language newspaper cited sources saying that the process could begin in September, the authorities were quick to shoot it down. Sarma himself told the publication that all administrative resources were committed to flood relief and combating the coronavirus. He added that NRC related work had been put on hold.

It is also noteworthy that the work related to issuing of rejection slips may be far from complete. In June this year SabrangIndia had reported that the Reason for Exclusion from the NRC is not available for all those who were excluded from the final NRC. Sources in the NRC authority on condition of anonymity told SabrangIndia that the Reason for Exclusion based on which the Rejection Slip is prepared is available for only 3 lakh people!  

According to official figures, approximately 4 lakh people never applied for having their names included in the NRC. When the final NRC was published over 19 lakh people were excluded. Now, assuming 4 lakh of these are the original 4 lakh people who didn’t apply for inclusion after the draft NRC was released, that still leaves over 15 lakh people who needed to be given a reason for their exclusion. But if the reason is available for only 3 lakh people, over 12 lakh people may never find out why they were excluded!

This reason for exclusion was given in Speaking Orders by NRC Disposing Officers that in turn needed to be scanned into Rejection Slips. These Rejection Slips or Rejection Orders were required by the people who were excluded from the NRC to file appeals for inclusion before Foreigners’ Tribunals. They were required to do so within 120 days from the day the NRC authority issued these orders. However, this process was time consuming and, as SabrangIndia has been reporting for the several months, fraught with inexplicable delays.

Related:

BREAKING: NRC related activity put on hold in Assam due to Corona Virus

Anxiety in Assam: Hurdles in releasing detention camp inmates, delays in NRC rejection slips

NRC process to remain on hold in Assam due to Covid-19 lockdown

Reason for Exclusion from NRC only available for 3 lakh people in Assam?

The post First Covid, now floods; NRC work still on hold in Assam appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Heavy rains have caused the Brahmaputra and its tributaries to overflow their banks in Assam. Additionally, non-stop showers have led to large parts of Assam being inundated under several feet of water. As of today, 31 out of the state’s 33 districts are affected by floods.

So far 84 people are reported to have died and countless others are missing due to the floods. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, more than 3,000 villages have been affected.

According to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, over 70 lakh people have been affected by the floods. Two days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had over a telephonic conversation inquired about the flood situation. This is a double whammy for Assam as it is already reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic.

As many as 25,29,312 people have reportedly been either temporarily or permanently displaced. Over 48,000 families are huddled together in 276 disaster relief shelter camps with most of their meagre possessions, property and livestock having been washed away. A total of 11,12,138 hectares of land is currently inundated, much of it, agricultural land where standing crop has been destroyed.

Goalpara, where a severe flood alert has been sounded, remains one of the worst affected districts. Heavy rain and flooding had also been reported from Dhubri, Barpeta, Morigaon, Darang, Sonitpur and Nagaon, and large swathes of the Kaziranga national park are severely inundated. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC) the Brahmaputra river levels are expected to rise further. Already the Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Kopili, Beki, Kusiyara and Sankosh have flowed above the danger mark in many places.

Related:

Assam floods: 14 lakh people in 25 out of 33 districts affected
Flood-victims sent notice to defend citizenship in Assam!
Floods affect 30,000 in Assam as Covid-19 cases continue to rise

The post Floods wreak havoc on 31 out of 33 districts in Assam appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Even as Assam is fighting its battle against Covid-19, the floods brought on by heavy rains have made the situation in the state overly precarious. With four more people passing away in the state due to the floods, the death toll has now risen to 24. According to a report by IANS, more than 14 lakh people in the state’s 25 out of 33 districts have been affected.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, the Brahmaputra river in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Kamrup, Goalpara and Dhubri; Burihidihing at Chenimari; Dhansiri at Numaligarh; Jia Bharali at Sonitpur, Kopili at Nagaon; Beki at Barpeta and Kushiyara at Karimganj were flowing above danger levels.

The floods have hit 66 revenue circles and flood-hit districts in the state are – Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Chirang, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia. A total of 209 houses in the state have been damaged.

As on June 30, a total of 2,235 villages have been affected and a total of 75,700.12 hectares of crops have been destroyed due to the floods. The state is currently housing 25,461 people in 265 relief camps. Around 819,645 big animals; 410,390 small animals and 774,967 poultry have been affected due to the floods. In total, 6,063.82 quintals of rice1412.30 quintals of wheat, 295.15 quintals of salt and 8,100.94 liters of oil had been distributed in the relief camps. As many as 3,245 persons have been evacuated by disaster management personnel in the districts of Dhemaji, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and South Satmara.

Roads were damaged in Dhemaji, Majuli, Barpeta, Darrang, Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Goalghat, Dhubri while bridges Barpeta, Nalbari and Baksa.

The Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary were partially inundated. Of the 223 forest camps in Kaziranga, 143 were inundated by the flooded Brahmaputra which flows through the park. The situation forced animals such as rhinos, elephants, deer etc to move towards highland within the park as well as the hills in neighbouring Karbi Anglong, The New Indian Express reported. In the RG Orang National Park too, 19 camps out of 40 have been affected by the floods.

The Central Water Commission too said that the rivers in Assam are flowing above dangerous levels and the situation continues to be severe.

River Brahmaputra at #Dhubri in DHUBRI district of Assam continues to flow in SEVERE SITUATION as on 30.06.2020 pic.twitter.com/4is1ojEKpm

— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) June 30, 2020

Photographs taken in #Dhubri Town #Dhubri District #Assam State affected by #Flood Today is appended. pic.twitter.com/PvoBwXBMi8

— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) June 29, 2020

Shillong Times reported Cabinet Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary saying that CM Sarbananda Sonowal has directed the deputy commissioners of the affected districts to monitor the arrangements at the camps and ensure that the guidelines set by the health department are adhered to.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) continues relief operations

Throughout CJP’s relief efforts during the Covid-19 outbreak in Assam, we also came across the people’s struggle during the floods. CJP volunteers reported that the situation of the people of Assam became more precarious after the release of water from Bhutan’s Kurishu River Dam made the flow of the Beki River more intense. As a result, floodwaters inundated many parts of Assam’s Barpeta district overnight.

Majidul Islam, CJP’s District Volunteer Motivator from Barpeta said, “When the CJP team visited the affected families of Shutirpathar, Kharballi and Shawnpur in Barpeta district we saw the devastation ourselves.”

Conveying the many perils of the flood-affected citizens during this time, Islam added, “Families have taken refuge on government platforms. CJP Team went to four such platforms to understand the situation. About 40 families have taken shelter on one platform. Among them there are ailing, elderly people and small children. These people have no food to eat, no clean drinking water and no toilets.”

Below are a few images captured by CJP’s volunteers even as they continue relief operations across the state.

Related:

Assam’s flood situation turns grim as Brahmaputra and Jai Bharali continue to flow at dangerous levels

Floods affect 30,000 in Assam as Covid-19 cases continue to rise

The post Assam floods: 14 lakh people in 25 out of 33 districts affected appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As many as 5,494 people in 18 villages have been across Dhemaji and Lakhimpur have been affected by flash floods in Assam with the rivers Brahmaputra and Jia Bharali flowing above danger levels, The Sentinel reported.

Roads have also been damaged in Chachar and Dhemaji and damage to bridges and culverts have also been reported. Five relief camps for affected persons have been opened up and currently 158 people are taking shelter in them.

Updates by the Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast stated that the Brahmaputra River was flowing above normal at Beki Road Bridge in Barpeta, Sivasagar, Numaligarh and Neamatighat while the Jai Bharali was over normal in Sonitpur.

ধেমাজি জিলাত জিয়াঢল নৈৰ বাঢ়নী পানীয়ে বিস্তীৰ্ণ অঞ্চল বুৰাই পেলাইছে ।#AssamFlood#AIRPics : Dilip pic.twitter.com/I6m54NkZLi

— AIR News Guwahati (@airnews_ghy) June 17, 2020

With the monsoon soon approaching, a mobile awareness drive on preparing for floods in the context of #COVID19 has been launched in Assam by Deputy Commissioner Dhemaji , DDMA, Rural Volunteer Centre & supported by #UNICEF.

This will travel across the state to raise awareness. pic.twitter.com/s5XnYjzAjZ

— UNICEF India (@UNICEFIndia) June 18, 2020

Updates by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) states that as on June 18, 2020, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Narayanpur revenue circles have been affected. The number of villages affected in Dhemaji are 18, in Jonai are 12 and in Narayanpur are 109.

Due to the floods, a total of 8,070 people – 5,305 in Dhemaji, 2,183 in Jonai and 582 in Narayanpur have been affected. The total crop area affected is 1,932 hectares – 920 in Dhemaji, 903 in Jonai and 109 in Narayanpur. A total of big 2,173 animals have been affected, 1,352 small animals have been affected and 578 poultry has been affected.

In terms of relief, 6.80 quintals of rice, 1.11 quintals of dal and 0.35 quintals of salt has been distributed to the affected persons.

Early this month, at least 20 people in Chachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi were killed and seven were injured in landslides that were triggered by heavy rains in Assam’s Barak Valley. The District Collector of Chachar had said that an ex-gratia of Rs. 28 lakh was distributed among the family members of those deceased and injured.

Related:

Floods affect 30,000 in Assam as Covid-19 cases continue to rise
Assam’s flood affected victims still waiting for compensation

The post Assam’s flood situation turns grim as Brahmaputra and Jai Bharali continue to flow at dangerous levels appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The floods in Assam this year, caused by the overflowing Brahmaputra, Dhansiri, Desang and Kushiara rivers, affected at least 8 lakh people all over the state.

Yet, more than three months after the disaster, Assam’s flood-affected victims have not received their due compensation as per the relief manual, reported The Sentinel.

Compensation, as part of flood relief, has always been a chronic problem in Assam. According to the relief manual of disaster management, each family affected by floods, taking refuge in shelter camps, is supposed to get a compensation of Rs. 3,800 on their exit from the shelter. But, in reality, 90 percent of the families who languished in these relief camps are yet waiting to get the promised amount.

Even though help had poured in from all corners, Dispur’s red-tapism has proved to be the culprit in the matter. According to official sources, the file for the release of Rs 40 crore for making payment of Rs 3,800 to each of the flood-hit families who had to stay in relief camps has been lying in the State Finance department.

In July this year, leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Monday urged Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal to release the disaster relief funds pending since 2014 – 15.

He said that even under the State Disaster Response Fund, there was a “noticeable shortfall between funds allocated and funds actually released” for Assam since 2014-’15. In 2015’-16, only Rs 425 crore of the allocated Rs 460 crore was released, while the next year, Rs 400 crore was released out of an allocated Rs 483 crore. In 2017-’18, Rs 400 crore out of the allocated Rs 507 crore was released. He asked the state government to release all of the Rs 559 crore allocated to be released for the relief of the victims.

According to the procedure followed, a state-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary has to approve the list of beneficiaries for flood relief. What makes people raise their eyebrow is – the State-level committee has not met as yet for approving the list of beneficiaries and the amount of the funds sought.

Though 1.5 lakh hectares of farm lands was destroyed in the floods this year, when the damage itself has not been assessed by the state, compensation for affected farmers seems quite a distant dream. According to the standing rules, such damage of houses and farmlands should be verified on the spot by the latmandals, who send the lists of beneficiaries to their respective deputy commissioners. The deputy commissioners should send the lists to the secretary of the departments concerned, who should send the lists to the Revenue Department. It’s the Revenue department that has to compile all such lists received from various departments and then send them to the Finance department for the release of funds.

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), more than 45 lakh people have been affected in 4,620 villages of the state, with 1,01,085 people taking refuge in 226 relief camps, PTI reported. As many as 562 distribution centers have been set up for providing relief to the affected people.

Last year itself, man-made flood-affected victims staged an agitation near Numaligarh-Morangi demanding compensation from the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), after more than 91 villages in Golaghat were affected in the wave of floods that hit the district after NEEPCO released excess water from the reservoir of the Doyang Hydro Electric Project, without prior intimation, causing irreversible damage to the lives and livelihoods of people living downstream from it.

No one knows because the media is mum

India’s apathy towards the plight of Assam is disappointing and North-East Indians have no illusions about it. The floods in Assam and its aftermath has not found any sympathies or even coverage by the national media.

While the national news hovers around issues and activities from Hindi heartlands, the North-East gets the short end of the stick. It is not just the geographical remoteness of the location, because the national media hugs Assam’s sports masters every time they win accolades for the country.

Hence, it can be argued that the mainstream media is indulging in ‘othering’ and regional disparity when it comes to portraying the real problems faced by the people in this region.

Only picking and choosing to show a political crisis, especially in the cases of the GS Road incident, Karbi-Anglong lynching, terrorist activities in Manipur, riots in north-eastern states etc. the coverage of the floods in Assam was pitiful was compared to that of the coverage coming in from Uttarakhand or Kerala.

Even now, all that Assam is in the news for is the National Register of Citizens (NRC). No coverage of issues related to floods, their repercussions, erosions or landslides have taken place.

Writing in the media site The Hoot, analyst Kakoli Thakur says while the murder mystery in Mumbai “involving a woman from Assam was hogging the limelight but the state itself, where thousands of people were hit by the worst spate of floods in decades, was reduced to fillers in the newspapers and small news capsules on TV channels”.

“What is seen as usual rarely gets importance as news in Indian media. And floods in Assam seem to be the usual thing,” says Ashis Biswas, a veteran journalist who has worked in Assam.

Mr Biswas recalls senior editors telling him during his days in Assam, “Please, no flood stories again”.

The TRP hungry media has always ignored real issues that affect real people. Even in the case of Assam, it was the good Samaritans on social media who helped bring aid to the affected humans and animals of the flood-hit state.

Caught between bureaucracy on one side and a shrill, biased, uninterested media on the other, will the screams for help from the citizens of the worst flood-affected state ever be heard?

Related:

How Assam Loses Land, Lives, Livelihoods To Its Rivers
Nature’s fury spares none: Both animals and humans continue to suffer in Assam-Bihar floods
Assam, Mizoram Least Prepared For Climate Change Among Himalayan States
Is BJP refusing disaster aid to states that didn’t vote for them?

The post Assam’s flood affected victims still waiting for compensation appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The state’s vast network of rivers floods its valleys every year, causing an annual loss of Rs 200 crore, on average. Even after the floods recede, the state will continue to lose land and livelihoods to its rivers. We explain how.

Assam’s land is composed almost entirely of river valleys. The geographical area of Assam is 78,438 sq km, of which 56,194 sq km is covered by the Brahmaputra river valley. The Barak river valley, along with two hill districts, makes up the remaining 22,244 sq km of the state.

With two rivers, 48 major tributaries and numerous sub-tributaries flowing across its valleys, Assam’s river network leaves nearly 40% of the state flood-prone.

However, Assam’s longest river, the Brahmaputra, has been claiming more ground by eroding its banks. When it was first surveyed over the years 1912-28, the river covered an area of 3,870 sq km. This area increased 57% to 6,080 sq km by the year 2006. The river is 5.46 km wide on average, but has widened to 15 km in some places through erosion. 

Losing land and livelihoods
Eating away at it own banks, the Brahmaputra and its tributaries have destroyed entire villages. Between 2010 and 2015, 880 villages were completely eroded, 67 villages were partially eroded, and 36,981 families lost their homes to erosion during this five-year period.

In addition to homes, Assam’s families are also losing farmland: 3,800 sq km of farmland–an area larger than Goa–has been lost to erosion since 1954. Land is a vital resource in the state, since over 75% of Assam’s population depends on agriculture for their livelihood as farmers, agricultural labourers or both. A loss of land usually means a loss their livelihood.

With more than 85% of all farmer families in Assam classified as small or marginal farmers–owning just 0.63 hectare on average, about the size of the smallest football field–many are at risk of losing all their land to erosion.

More erosion than deposition
The annual report of the Brahmaputra Board stated that, between 1988 and 2015, the river had also deposited land on its banks.

However, although 208 sq km (20,800 hectares) of land had been deposited on the Brahmaputra’s banks, more than three times that had been eroded.

The report also said land deposited by a river can be used for cultivation only after the formation of topsoil, generally a multi-year process. This means it will take several years to gain back the farmable land lost in a year.

Meanwhile, the state continues to lose 8,000 hectares of land to the river every year. Since 1950, a total of 427,000 hectares of land have been lost to the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, according to the Water Resources Department of Assam. This amounts to 7.4% of the total land area of the state. 

No long-term solutions applied
Till date, Assam’s water resources department has not implemented any long-term measures to tackle the erosion problems of the state.

It has focused its efforts on managing floods, implementing measures that are immediate and short-term, such as constructing embankments. The department has built 4,473 km of new embankments and strengthened 655 km of embankments so far. However, the embankments are commonly breached due to bank erosion, according to the department.

More people at risk
There has been a significant increase in the number of people inhabiting the Brahmaputra river valley. In 1940-41, the population density of valley ranged from 9 to 29 persons/sq km in different districts of Assam. The population density of the flood-prone valley has since increased to 200 persons/sq km, leaving a large number of people at the mercy of its rivers.

(Ahmed is a graduate of architecture from the University of Kent and is an intern at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: https://www.indiaspend.com/
 

The post How Assam Loses Land, Lives, Livelihoods To Its Rivers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Floods fueled by climate change and unplanned urbanisation have wreaked havoc in India, but authorities are failing to take notice.

This year has seen the highest recorded rainfall in quite some time. Rainfall records have broken in different regions of the country, and all over the world. The year has seen a spate of extreme climate events, and their toll on life and property has been devastating. India, particularly, has witnessed floods in nine states. Monsoons this year have been heavy, and the damage caused by flooding unprecedented.

India has seen massive flooding in Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Odisha, and Jharkhand. The city of Mumbai is still under torrential rain, and floods there had claimed 14 lives till the end of August. 
Climate scientists all over the world have attributed the cause of this heavy flooding to both climate change as well as rapid and unplanned urbanisation. Floods have affected neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan as well, and the death toll in South Asia is currently estimated to be about 1,200, with 40 million people affected.

In Bihar, one of the worst affected states, rainfall patterns have seen a dramatic shift. The month of August saw very high rainfall this year. Last year, however, rainfall in August was much lower than expected. The departure in rainfall from the expected amount is quite different this year and last year in the 19 flood hit districts of Bihar.

Global warming leads to a rise in temperature, which causes sea surfaces to be hotter. This results in more moisture in the atmosphere, and thus causes heavier rainfall. The ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture is directly impacted from an increase in temperature. For every half a degree celsius in warming, there is about a 3% increase in atmospheric moisture content. This phenomenon is defined in the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. So while all of this causes heavier rains, the poor infrastructure and planning of rapidly expanding urban spaces leads to wide scale loss of life and property. Cities lack proper drainage facilities. They have expanded into marshes, and wetlands, and other such areas which absorb water.

Rising temperatures also lead to melting of glaciers, such as the ones in the Himalayas. This causes an increase in the water levels, and consequently an increase in the risk of flooding.

The worst affected by these climate change fuelled disasters are the poor. Informal settlements often develop in sites which are under greater threat of flooding. These settlements also have weaker stability and no proper drainage facilities.

In Gujarat, the floods impacted 6.44 lakh farmers in 17 districts. The crop damage is estimated to be worth Rs 867 crore. In Assam, at least 160 people died, and 61,923 people had to be displaced.  In West Bengal, 1.67 lakh people had to be accommodated in relief camps, and at least 48 people lost their lives.

Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was quoted by The Guardian saying flooding will worsen.  “This is what we can see happening already, with rainfall patterns becoming more erratic and unpredictable. The scientific consensus seems to be that while the overall precipitation across the entire year is not likely to go either up or down significantly due to climate change, the pattern of rainfall will change significantly with greater precipitation in the monsoon season and less in the dry season. Paradoxically, this will probably lead to more flooding in the wet season and more droughts in the dry season, even if the overall amount of rainfall across the year does not change very much.

“The bottom line seems to be that we have already entered the Anthropocene era, in which human activities have cumulatively resulted in changing global weather patterns as well as other global phenomenon such as forest fires and sea level rises.”

Third world countries, which are responsible for a fraction of the CO2 emissions causing global warming, face the brunt of its consequences as extreme climate events are seen largely in the tropics. So while the leaders of the free world continue debating weather global warming is even real, people continue losing their lives. Some scientists say it may already be too late to reverse the impact of global warming. Very few, however, seem to be bothered to even try.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The post Year of the Deluge: 2017, India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

If this demand is not met by February 2018, the organisation has also threatened to launch an agitation in tea gardens, including a blockade of tea exports from the state.

The organisation took the decision at a recent meeting attended by intellectuals and leaders of the tea tribes.”Assam suffers from floods every year. Many people are rendered homeless. This year, the disaster caused huge damage. So providing compensation and relief is not the only solution. The Centre should declare the floods as a national problem and do their best to prevent it permanently,” the organisation’s chief convenor Israil Nanda said.

“If the Centre and the state do not take any initiative in this regard by February, we will stage protests in every tea garden. As part of the agitation, no worker will do any plucking. We will also block the export process,” he added.

There are more demands: the organisation also warned the government to take a decision on granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities of Assam.

“We seek a clear stand of the state government on this issue. There are some restrictions for the tea tribes in Assam to get ST status. We will demand an autonomous council for the tea tribes. A study committee is working to prepare a proposal for the autonomous council,” Nanda said. The committee also alleged that workers under the Assam Tea Corporation are deprived of various facilities such as provident fund, bonus and other benefits. The organisation demanded release of Rs 5000-crore package for the tea workers.

“There is discrimination over daily wage among the tea workers of the Barak and the Brahmaputra valleys. After decades of service in the industry, many workers are deprived of bonus and other facilities. Under the Assam Tea Corporation, there are around 25,000 workers in 15 tea gardens in Assam. But those workers have not got a single paisa as provident fund and bonus over the past 15 years. They are also deprived of facilities provided as per the Minimum Wages Act, 1948,” Nanda said. The state government has released no funds to the Tea Workers’ Welfare Board, it alleged.

“The former state government used to provide a package of Rs 100 crore to the welfare board. But the present government has reduced it to Rs 53 crore and that, too, is yet to be released. The condition of the board is also pathetic. The Congress government had decided to collect Rs 2 each from the workers and Rs 4 from the owner of gardens against each worker as the fund for the board. The decision was withdrawn,” he said.

The post Declare Floods a National Problem demand Tea Tribes: Assam appeared first on SabrangIndia.