While people in North India are welcoming the rainy season, the northeastern part of India is flooded with water. For them, it is an annual affair to witness the havoc created by flood, especially by the mighty river Brahmaputra. This year is no different.
The flood scenario in Assam has become a grim situation where 17 deaths have been reported and almost 46 lakh people are affected. Even the assembly session of the state has been postponed, and admission in universities like Cotton University, Guwahati has been halted. As per reports from InsideNE, famous sites like Pobitra and Kaziranga National Park are submerged. Four one-horned rhinos also died due to severe floods and the online viral video of deer floating away melted our hearts.
Therefore, the floods have again impacted the state and caused huge loss of lives of men and cattle, livelihoods and shelters. Even the communication link has been disrupted leaving millions in deep tragedy. PM Modi has taken stock of the situation and the NDRF, SDRF and others have been deployed to provide rescue and relief operations. Even Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took aerial survey of the situation and the government has released ₹251 crore as immediate help. To get national attention, Congress MPs from Assam even protested on the issue in the Parliament complex.
As per an India Today report, even in Meghalaya, rising waters of the Brahmaputra and the Jinjiram rivers have thrown life out of gear for 1.14 lakh people across 164 villages. The state of Mizoram is also flood hit now and 400 houses are submerged in Lunglei. Similar kind of news are pouring in from different parts of the state.
The state of Arunachal Pradesh is also witnessing heavy rainfall and has seen many landslides in the past few days. Reports of floods are coming in from the Siang region especially, where the impact is immense. Former Union Minister and current MLA, Ninong Ering apprised about the flood situation and expressed the immediate need to prevent floods. He also spoke about his desiltation policy requested to PM Modi this year which will help to curb the menace of flood in the northeastern region of India. The adjoining areas of Siang are heavily affected and the livelihoods of people are at stake now.
It can be easily seen that almost half of the northeast is in the grip of floods even if it is a yearly occurrence. The tragedy is that even after so much of precaution and effort, human lives are lost. Northeastern India needs to fight this menace together and the government should establish a high powered committee comprising of experts in disaster management to prevent the loss and damages caused by floods. Brahmaputra Board must be given more powers to take necessary measures to curb flooding. And an international treaty with China on the river Brahmaputra must be drawn up and signed at the earliest to minimise the impact of floods.