K.K. Sen
(Retired Director of Statistics)
No sooner had the chilly winter bidden goodbye with a severe jolt than another menace gripped the city very recently. It’s the threat of heavy showers that jeopardized the normal life of inhabitants of the city. Continuous downpour at the end of the month of May caused waterlogging here and there and threw life out of gear. Communication through the main streets, lanes, and bylanes was disrupted. Business centres, schools, and offices had to shut their doors. It’s not the problem of a day but has become a perennial issue. Merely 20 to 30 centimetres of rainfall turn different cities of the state, especially Guwahati, into flooded nightmares. Open drains, potholes, and streets were submerged with waist-deep water. The situation eventually assumes the form of a flood. An artificial flood is followed by a fury of natural floods with the advent of the southwest monsoon that blows normally from May to October. Filthy water from clogged drainage flows into the residential areas and makes the lives of people paralysed. This results from the unscientific raising of roads and drain levels. Construction of buildings to the lowest flat or floor down to the ground level is also responsible for this unfortunate foresight. Failure in fixing the street level, allowing unchecked elevation of roads and drainage and construction of buildings beyond the norm, resulted in severe waterlogging here and there.
The situation needs to be addressed by the authorities concerned, and people responsible for flawed planning must be penalised. Scientific urban planning and responsible governance are crucial to ensure a healthy environment. The situation is compounding alarmingly because of the construction of more and more flats day by day in an unplanned manner. The inundation with rainwater may be prevented by cleaning off the clogged drains in a routine manner by the authorities concerned. The inhabitants of different localities may be made aware of keeping the drains clean. Throwing garbage here and there and in the drains restricts the potentiality of a proper drainage system. The cyclonic disturbances from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea create widespread and heavy showers that cause floods in the state.
Since the dawn of civilisation destructive disasters have jeopardized settlement in riverbedareas. Despite development in technology and extensive investment in the name of flood control, neither the occurrence of floods nor the erosion of soil could be resisted significantly. Floods are commonly judged in terms of the damage to humans and materials instead of readiness for dealing with the event or uprooting its occurrence totally, like in other developed countries. Devastating disaster destroys cultural landscape and undermines sustainable development by breaking the chain of smooth continuity. This is unlike the category of flood of the Nile or the Tigris-Euphrates river, which had nourished the riverbedsince the dawn of human civilisation. Rich alluvial soil of the Thames River made it possible to enrich the agricultural economy of early Britain. But the flood of present days has been depicted as a source of destruction rather than creation. To mitigate the menace, a number of projects as well as flood-controlling organizations have been initiated, but these seem to be rearing white elephants that exploit crores of rupees in the name of food resistance with a little hope of changing the dismal scenario. Every year when a flood occurs, there arises a hue and cry among the individuals in general, and one and all demands a permanent solution without bothering a little before the occurrence.
It is indeed a fact that flood and erosion are perennial problems that cause irreparable damage to the productivity of agricultural crops and create a setback in the socioeconomic condition of the state. The largest river system of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries has a unique characteristic of crossing the danger level of inundation due to incessant rainfall during the period of monsoon. Though the Government of India constituted a task force comprising of national and international experts who finalised an ambitious plan to mitigate the issue, it was found to be swept under the carpet. However, to make a solution to the flood problem, dikes and dams need to be constructed. Man-made channels can also help in diverting water from flooded areas. To retain excess flow of water, planting vegetation on a large scale is also advisable. In order to make a breakthrough in solving the problem, we may also learn from other countries like China, the Netherlands, etc. China had launched an ambitious project to revolutionise its cities by building underground pipe corridors and promoting the construction of sponge cities to absorb excess water. The Netherlands also adopted the Delta Plan for flood risk management.
The call of the hour is to save the state from the fury of the flood through proper planning and by way of strengthening the embankment network, improving the drainage system, and controlling deforestation. Unfortunately the recurring flood continues to expose our lack of preparedness for the twin measures of flood and erosion. It is regrettable that despite Assam being a perennially flood-prone zone, our preparedness level remains abysmal. Along with the government’s initiative, public participation must also be ensured. A meticulous plan along with public awareness is necessary to address the issue. Innovative measures at the local level, such as constructing buildings on elevated platforms and draining rainwater through proper outlets, may be a long-term strategy in solving the artificial flooding. Rampant encroachment in the riverbeds, widespread deforestation, abnormal rising of riverbeds, and frequent shifting of river courses have also added to the problem of flooding in a destructive dimension. Construction of large ponds for draining out excess water of the Brahmaputra may also be accepted to mitigate the ever-increasing fury of floods. Despite all these efforts, the prime concern is to rescue the flood victims by arranging suitable places for their safety and ensuring the availability of dry food, drinking water, and medicine. instantly.