Assam Flood: Majgaon Families Forced to Rebuild Lives from Scratch After Dikhow Deluge

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Majgaon village, adjacent to flood-hit Bihubar Nepalikhuti in Nazira, is equally devastated. This village in the Sivasagar district is located on the bank of the Dikhow River. The area faces floods once in a while, but not of the intensity this time. The recent deluge has snatched away the dreams of the village's residents to live a normal, decent life. Recalling the devastation, local resident Bittu Bhumij said, "When I went near the Dikhow River on the morning of July 19, I noticed that the water level was normal. But heavy rainfall occurred later, and the water level started increasing from around 10 am. The speed with which the river water rose was abnormally fast. Getting a hint of impending danger, I told my family to move out of our house. Within 20 minutes or so, the overflowing water reached the veranda of our house. We had reached the village headman's house when a huge wave of water almost engulfed us. Me and my family clambered on top of a pile of stones to escape the rising waters but the level of the floodwater went up further. I swam to a neighbour's house and cut off a few banana trees for a makeshift raft for my family. This raft saved my family."

"In that instant, I noticed that my elder brother and his daughter were about to be swept away. I grabbed onto them and somehow took them to a safer place. A rescue team reached us after about two hours and rescued us. I shudder to think what might have happened if the rescue team hadn't reached us at that time," he added.

Another resident of the area, Ranjit Duara, says he lost all his belongings, including the livestock, in the deluge. "My house is completely covered by silt. We couldn't save anything as the floodwater rose all of a sudden. To some extent, we're lucky to have been rescued, as we were stuck in the floodwater for around one and a half hours. The 3 cows and 12 goats I possessed were swept away by the unrelenting waves of water. The floodwaters have completely destroyed my agricultural fields. My daughter is studying in HS second year, and my son is in Class 4. I don't know how I will continue their studies, as we'll have to restart life from scratch," he lamented, adding, "We have food as relief materials were distributed among us, but we don't have a place to stay. The situation is the same for all other residents of our village."

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