Disaster risk management in the Northeast

Tripura, Mizoram, and the Barak Valley have been grappling with a severe fuel shortage for nearly a week after a landslide and derailment on the railway track in Dima Hasao, Assam, disrupted train services. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha reportedly urged the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to expedite the normal resumption of train services, including goods trains through Dima Hasao, in the wake of the fuel crisis, which laid bare wide gaps in disaster response in the northeast region. The disaster risk management in the region needs better preventive measures to reduce susceptibility and effective mitigation measures. The prevailing crisis also brings into focus alternative routes through Bangladesh and Myanmar for uninterrupted supplies of essential commodities from the rest of India to the northeast region. Landslides at multiple locations in Dima Hasao, following heavy rain disrupting the railway link to the hill district in 2022 for nearly two months, pressed the alarm bell for upgrading prevention and mitigation measures along the stretch. Landslide susceptibility along railway tracks was not given adequate attention while deciding the alignment for the Broad Gauge line to replace the colonial-era metre-gauge hill section between Lumding and Silchar. Frequent landslides at the Sonapur tunnel in Meghalaya along the Guwahati-Silchar Road often disconnect Barak Valley from the rest of Assam, affecting supplies of essential commodities and passenger movement. Increasing storage capacities for food and fuel can be an effective mitigation measure. This will ensure that there is no shortage of essentials if restoration work is delayed beyond the anticipated period. Secondly, increasing production and productivity in each state in the region can help build resilience against disaster-related disruptions in supplies. Fast-tracking decarbonization of the transport sector and prioritising electric mobility in these states can reduce dependence on fossil fuel supplies from outside the state. As fossil fuels will eventually be phased out to meet climate action goals, electric mobility needs to be pushed. Adoption of electric vehicles has not gained momentum across the country because of the high upfront cost of electric vehicles and range anxieties not being addressed by stepping up the installation of charging stations. Special incentives for disaster-affected states in the region and the installation of charging stations under the aegis of the government need a policy push. Tripura being a power surplus state, the availability of electricity for charging stations should not be a problem. With demand for electricity growing rapidly, maintaining the power surplus situation is vital for unlocking industrial investments. Tripura Electric Vehicle Policy 2022 has set the target of converting at least 42,000 two wheelers, 10,000 three wheelers, 7,500 four wheelers and 500 buses by 2027. Achieving the targets is crucial to reducing fossil fuel dependence, but the registration of only 148 electric two-wheelers in Tripura in the first six months of 2023 indicates the slow pace of implementation. During the same period, registration of only 61 two-wheelers—59 in Manipur, 37 in Meghalaya, only one each in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, and 1306 in Assam—against 90,485 in Maharashtra—tells the same story of policies and programmes being on paper in the region that needed them the most. Policymakers and executives need to revisit some of their policies and programmes and explore possible linkages to maximise the benefits across multiple sectors. What the region desperately needs to overcome the challenges of poor implementation is to stop planning in silos. When adverse weather conditions and inhospitable terrain are blamed for delays in project execution in the region, it should naturally provoke innovative ideas to design projects and programmes with convergence on disaster risk prevention and mitigation. The announcement of the construction of all-weather road infrastructure sounds futuristic, but when such roads fail to withstand heavy downpours or remain susceptible to rain-induced landslide events and are damaged due to submergence in flood waters, it should draw the attention of the planners and executives to flaws in the design and construction. Deepening bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh and India and Myanmar has brought new opportunities to use alternative rail routes, roadways, waterways, and seaports to reduce travel and transportation distance and time between the northeastern region and the rest of India. The sustainability of such routes will always be dependent on geopolitics in the neighbourhood and foreign policies adopted by the incumbent government. Such inherent vulnerabilities in transborder connectivity projects must not be overlooked. This implies that strategic projects within the country that are vital for improving connectivity to remote areas must remain in focus. Nevertheless, the utilization of these alternate routes to fast-track development in the region can help unlock tremendous economic opportunities in the region. The states in the region need not remain held hostage by natural disasters aggravated by ecological disturbances caused by anthropogenic activities if they lobby with the central government to expedite transborder connectivity projects through diplomatic channels. A holistic approach to disaster risk management in the region is the urgent need of the hour.