Why Assam gets flooded every year

Assam, which is seen as India's gateway to Southeast Asia, gets flooded every year. We see the Kaziranga National Park getting inundated and animals, especially the one-horned rhinoceroses getting badly affected with this, but the situation hasn't changed much over the years.

This year too, the northeastern state has been reeling under devastating floods. 73 people have died so far due to the deluge and landslides in the state.

According to a bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 42 lakh people in 127 revenue circles and 5,137 villages have been affected in 33 districts of Assam.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday. The home minister said that the government stands firmly with the people of Assam and Meghalaya, another state that is witnessing floods due to heavy rainfall.

Spoke to CM Assam Shri @himantabiswa and CM Meghalaya Shri @SangmaConrad to discuss the situation in parts of both states in the wake of heavy rainfall & flooding.
Modi government stands firmly with the people of Assam and Meghalaya in this hour of need.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) June 20, 2022

WHY ASSAM IS SO PRONE TO FLOODS

• Assam with its vast network of rivers is prone to bank erosion. The flood and erosion problem of Assam is singularly different from other states so far as extent and duration of flooding and magnitude of erosion is concerned and is probably the most acute and unique in the country, said the state government. The Brahmaputra and Barak river with more than 50 numbers of tributaries feeding them, causes flood devastation each year.
• The flood prone area of the state as assessed by the Rashtriya Barh Ayog (RBA) is 31.05 lakh hectares against the total area of state 78.523 lakh hectares ie about. 39.58 % of the total land area of Assam. This is about 9.40% of total flood prone area of the country, said the Water Resources Department of Assam government.

• Records show that the average annual area affected by flood is 9.31 lakh hectares. The flood prone area of the country as a whole stands at about 10.2 % of the total area of the country, but flood prone area of Assam is 39.58 % of the area of the state. It signifies that the flood prone area of Assam is four times the national mark of the flood prone area of the country.
• Other than the bank erosion, encroachment in forest lands and water bodies and unregulated release of water from dams also causes floods in the state.

SITUATION THIS YEAR

The monsoon hasn't started yet but the situation is really bad affecting more that 40 lakh people in the state. Nearly 1.90 lakh people have taken shelter in 744 relief camps. Relief materials have been distributed from 403 temporary centres to affected people who have not moved into the camps.

About 30,000 people have been evacuated so far by the NDRF, SDRF, police and other agencies, officials said.

According to the Central Water Commission bulletin, Kopili river is flowing above the high flood level at Kampur in Nagaon district, Brahmaputra at Nimatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati, Kamrup, Goalpara and Dhubri. Subansiri, Puthimari, Pagladia, Manas, Beki Barak and Kushiara rivers are flowing above their danger levels, reported PTI.

In Kaziranga National Park (KNP) eight animals - seven hog deers and a leopard have died due to drowning and vehicle hit.

WHAT IS THE GOVT DOING?

• CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed air dropping of food and other relief materials in areas where there is heavy flooding, officials said. Sarma gave the direction after a review meeting with his cabinet colleagues and government officials.

Reviewed #AssamFlood situation in a VC with DCs in presence of my Cabinet colleagues, senior Govt officials and representatives of @adgpi, @RailMinIndia, @NDRFHQ, etc.

Keeping in view the ground situation, issued instructions to provide immediate relief to the affected people. pic.twitter.com/LftnQz6qBQ

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 20, 2022

• The chief minister said that for the next few days the district officials should not concern themselves with procedural rules but concentrate on providing relief to the affected people. ”If certain areas are not covered in the relief manual, we will ensure that they are covered under State Owned Priority Development schemes and CM’s Relief Fund”.

• The CM has also directed the authorities to plan mega health camps with the help of the nine medical colleges in the state to ensure that post-flood diseases are effectively dealt with, reported PTI.