Monsoon Misery- Assam Floods

Kaziranga animals in danger, floods displace over 6 lakh in Assam, death toll rises to 68.

Basically, Assam is drowning, more than 1.03 crores of people have been affected drastically. But sadly, there’s no media outcry, no one is donating towards Assam relief, no one is praying for the people who have lost their houses and people.

So, let me take you the information ride about why is Assam a flood prone area and what could be the possible solutions to stop this natural disaster damaging the lives of people:-

There are both natural and man-made reasons of this ritual that barge annually in the lives of people of Assam:-

Most of Assam falls in meteorological zone and receives excessive amount of rain during the monsoons.

Also, The valley through which the Brahmaputra flows is narrow. While the river occupies 6-10 km, there are forest covers on either side. The remaining area is inhabited and farming is conducted in the low-lying areas. Overflowing rivers and flowing rapidly down the valley tend to spill over when it reaches the narrow strips.

The frequent earthquakes and landslides push soil into the rivers , and this sedimentation raises the river beds.

Coming onto the man-made reasons for this natural disaster occurring every year is:-

Basically, The population density of Brahmaputra valley was 9-29 people per sq. km in 1940-41; this shot up to 200 people per sq. km now, according Brahmaputra Board, this has worsened the flood situation.

So, is for real there is any way out?

The first thing that should be ensured is early warning systems. There are reports that around the Assam-Bhutan border, villagers form WhatsApp groups to warn people of rising water levels.

Wetlands and local water bodies should be revived so that the natural drainage system can act as a basin for excess water to flow. This would entail clearing human encroachments in the Brahmaputra flood plains.

Embankments should be regularly checked for breaches and systems put in place for maintenance; a first step would be to break the babu-contractor nexus that finds floods an easy way to sponge money from the system.

But what more saddens the situation is that it is tucked always in the inside pages of national paper,which we least care about, it rarely makes it to the prime TV bulletins and hardly finds it's place in development list.

And the pictures on social media are heart- wrenching , and are we going to put all our resources and experts on the table to find a solution?

And the problems have not come suddenly, they have been happening for 40-50 years now and killing people, affecting the lives of millions and ruining the crops.

WHAT ACTIONS ARE BEEN TAKEN? IT'S HIGH TIME THAT ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ACT.