Every year owing to work, travel or visiting family and friends, I end up taking a flight where I get to witness an aerial view of the inundation of paddy fields and villages getting submerged. Each year it gets worse and the whole state is pushed to a state of helplessness. Everything comes to a standstill. This time it has gotten even bad with NH 37, the lifeline of the state, getting blocked.
I happened to witness the ever-increasing water levels of the Brahmaputra on July 14 and the only thing I can say is I was just scared. Just too scared! Because the river looked as if it was waiting to gush out and take away everything that comes its way! It is a river which ranks among the top 5 rivers of the world in terms of discharge and sediment loading. I have always mentioned previously that it is always the lower riparian states which suffer the most and I will say it again.
This river is a transboundary water body which travels around 3800 km before reaching the Bay of Bengal, also resulting in the formation of the largest delta in the world along with contributions from the Ganges! The entire region is seismically active with few dams on its tributaries which do more harm than good once the water is released lashing out everything that comes its way. Some experts say that this river has the potential of causing tsunami like conditions and it’s no joke! Even if dredging of rivers and desilting are cited as the possible solutions yet there are other long term solutions that we need to look for.
The Bay of Bengal is also the largest bay of the world in terms of area.
There are so many geographical formations in the eastern and northeastern parts of India that stand out in the world, yet people from this part of the country feel utterly sad when media reaches us the last! There is always a nagging feeling that the northeast lies ignored by the rest of the country. Although, I beg to differ from this when I see so many people whining about it on social media. But even when I reason out and try to persuade people that such is not the case and the whole country is united when it comes to helping our state, I somehow feel defeated when many friends of mine from other parts of the country end up saying that they aren’t even aware of what my state is like!
30 out of the 33 districts are currently reeling under the floods, with close to 58 lakh people getting affected. There has been a breach of embankments, a change of river course. It is true that such events make people resilient but in an era of climate change and extreme weather events, it is high time we come up with solutions. More than 90% of the UNESCO national park – Kaziranga (also a wildlife sanctuary) is submerged underwater. Famous for its one-horned rhinoceros, it is now feared that poachers will take maximum advantage during the monsoon to poach down these innocent animals. Images have gone viral where rhinos and other animals are shown resting on dry and high grounds upon getting tired trying to save themselves from the plight of this disaster which hits every year!
Majuli, the only island district in the country and a major Vaishnavite centre is shrinking every year due to erosion. Once the largest river island of the world, today, unfortunately, Majuli has shrunk to the status of being the largest river island in India. The following short film on the ‘Forest Man’ of India makes it clear. Please note that this film was made before Majuli was declared a district.
Before witnessing the rise in the river levels, I was shocked to see the amount of plastic waste clogging drains just near the famous ‘Deepor Beel’ which is one of the 27 wetlands under Ramsar Convention in India. Beel is the local name for a wetland and is essential for not just commercial activities like fishing but is also necessary for flood control. If areas near to the wetland are polluted leading to improper drainage, how do we not expect that it will not lead to artificial floods? It is about time we focused on the need to ban single-use plastics as they do only and only harm.
Not only is Assam affected by floods but Bihar, Mizoram, Tripura, Nepal and Bangladesh are all facing a similar situation.
Priyanka Chopra who is the brand ambassador for ‘Awesome Assam’ promoting tourism got trolled on social media for not speaking up initially on the ongoing flood crisis. She later sent out a tweet asking people to donate to CM’s flood relief fund. Adil Hussain who hails from Assam has been tweeting about the deluge and asking citizens to contribute and reach out the victims. Hima Das who has won 4 gold medals in a record span of 15 days has donated half of her monthly salary and actor Akshay Kumar has donated ₹2 crore. Celebrities in their positions of power have a lot of responsibility and can bring about tremendous change in the society with such acts of kindness which inspires many others to follow suit.
Following is the list of organizations where one can contribute.
