The floods are here

While the Government of Assam has been struggling against all odds to control the spread of COVID-19 especially in the backdrop of increasing number of people returning home, the state is now also faced with floods. The monsoon, which seems to have been advanced by the cyclone Amphan, has already sent several rivers overflowing and inundating large tracts in several places. Going by the updates issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, over 10,000 people in seven revenue circles of four districts – Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Darrang and Goalpara – have been affected by the first wave of floods in the state till Sunday afternoon, the worst so far being the Charduar circle in Sonitpur. In addition to overflowing of rivers and entering villages through unrepaired breaches in embankments in several places, the Brahmaputra and a few of its tributaries have also caused serious bank erosion in Sonitpur and Lakhimpur districts. It is a matter of concern that many of the breaches on embankments caused by the Brahmaputra and several of its tributaries during the 2019 flood season have not yet been repaired. This was confirmed when Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal a few weeks ago asked the Water Resources Department to complete repairing of the weak and breached embankments of the state before the onset of the monsoon and seasonal floods. While Assam has a vast network of rivers that are prone to natural disasters like flood and erosion, this in turn has a huge negative impact on the overall development of the state. There is no denying the fact that the flood and erosion problem of Assam is singularly different from other states insofar as extent and duration of flooding and magnitude of erosion is concerned. But then, what has been a regular complaint of the people of the state is that the Centre – irrespective of whichever party is in power – has simply refused to recognise and declare Assam's twin problem of floods and river-bank erosion as a national disaster. According to an assessment of the Rastriya Barh Ayog (RBA) the flood-prone area of Assam is 31.05 lakh hectares against the 78.523 lakh hectares total area of state. This is about 39.58 % of the total land area of Assam, and about 9.40% of total flood-prone area of the country.