Assam Floods: A Season Of Sorrow For The State
· Free Press Journal
The monsoon deluge that swept Sivasagar, Charaideo, and Jorhat districts and other parts of Assam in mid-July with a cascading impact in August has taken the lives of at least 100 people and caused untold economic misery. It is a sobering reminder that hostility to nature and failure to plan for weather extremes carry severe consequences. Although 2026 is witnessing an El Nino phenomenon, raising fears of a weak monsoon and drought, some districts of Assam and neighbouring Nagaland were hit by aberrant rainfall that has not been experienced in half a century. The Dikhow and the Brahmaputra rivers swelled up due to the torrential downpour, broke embankments in many places and displaced thousands. Besides the distressing loss of human lives, residents have lost cattle and other economic assets. The question that is being raised is whether the flood could have been handled better by the state government, which classified some districts as low risk and left them less than prepared. Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has acknowledged that rescue and relief work in the worst-hit districts could not happen for a full week, although he tried to explain it away as the result of unexpected rainfall. A 2018 climate vulnerability assessment from IIT Guwahati and IIT Mandi says Assam carries the highest risk in the Himalayan region; nearly 32 of its 35 districts experience floods at least once a year, and the impact is severe in lower elevations. Historically, Assam has lost an estimated 3,600 sq km of forests since the turn of the century, and this mindless exploitation has exacerbated its climate vulnerability due to loosened soils and silting of rivers.
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Many areas of Assam and Nagaland remain the blind spot of environmental governance, since illegal mines, including riverbed mines, continue to operate there. Bunds created for miners’ vehicles across rivers act as small dams, increasing the impact of flood waters. After the recent inundation, coal mining areas in Nagaland were seen as the culprits, acting as reservoirs that burst and flooded communities downstream. Moreover, the Dikhow, Disang, Jhanji, and Teyap rivers originating in Nagaland and flowing into water bodies in Assam may be turning acidic due to mining. The catastrophic floods of 2026 should be treated as a fresh warning and prompt a judicial investigation into the state of the environment. The areas along the Dikhow River would be a good place to start. On the disaster response front, it should be clear now that no district is risk-free. Fresh hydrological studies can build on the research done so far. This year’s destruction has affected many and calls for speedy relief. It was particularly difficult for Bihubar in Sivasagar, calling for augmented measures. It is for such compensation that climate change funds are available to India under the Paris Agreement. An uncertain climate future calls for better preparedness.