The flood situation in Assam deteriorated yesterday on August 27 affecting 85,831 people across seven districts of the state. These are Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, and Sonitpur. The state’s main river Brahamputra, along with some other rivers, are flowing at severe flood levels at several locations with a rising trend.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), a total of 174 villages across these seven districts are inundated, with the highest number of flood-hit villages in Bongaigaon (91 villages) where 52,714 people including women and children are affected. The floods have damaged at least 5,147.34 hectares of crop areas across the seven affected districts in the northeastern state.
As per the latest report, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other rescue teams have evacuated 187 people in Bongaigaon, Chirang, and Dhemaji by boats. The state government has opened 23 relief camps in Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh.
Besides humans, a total of 62,429 animals are estimated to have been affected. These include 45,419 poultry, 11,753 big and 5,257 small animals.
Damages to infrastructure and flood forecast
Apart from displacing people, floods have also caused damages to the infrastructure. Several roads and bridges have also been damaged by the floodwaters in Cachar, Dhemaji, Jorhat districts of the state. Erosion has also caused damage in districts including Biswanath, Dhubri, Goalpara, Karimganj, Morigaon.
The Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast has warned that River Brahmaputra at Nimatighat in Jorhat district of Assam continues to flow in ‘severe situation’ and is forecasted to rise further.
River Buridehing at Margherita in Tinsukia district of the state is flowing above ‘danger Level’ at a water level of 134.75m.
Assam’s flood hazard atlas
Assam is one of the flood-prone states of the country. “Although occurrence of flood has been an age-old phenomenon in the riverine areas of this region, the extent of damage caused by the flood has increased significantly in recent years. With more than 40 percent of its land surface susceptible to flood damage, the total flood-prone area in the Brahmaputra valley is about 3.2 Mha,” notes the website of Assam State Disaster Management Authority.
Map: Flood hazard map of Assam (Different colours represent different hazard classes)
In 2016, the state government, along with ISRO, prepared a Flood Hazard Atlas for Assam which classifies flood-prone areas in the state in five broad categories (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high) based on flood hazard.
‘Very low’ category areas include districts that have faced floods one to two times floods between 1998 and 2007, whereas ‘very high’ category includes areas that face floods almost every year.
Bihar floods continue
Meanwhile, Bihar continues to face massive floods with at least 13 districts in the state affected by the inundation. The state has been braving floods since June this year and there has been no respite. Flood-relief camps have been set up but people complain of lack of sufficient food and no medicines and other sanitation related problems.
According to the Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast, River Bagmati at Benibad in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar continues to flow in ‘severe situation’ and is forecasted to rise to a water level of 49.88m. Besides, River Kamla at Jainagar in Madhubani district, River Mahananda at Dhengraghat in Purnia district, and River Punpun at Sripalpur in Patna district continues to flow in ‘severe situation’. These rivers are forecasted to rise further.
River Adhwara at Saharghat in Madhubani district is also flowing above ‘danger level’ at a water level of 57m.
Drought conditions in Odisha, Gujarat and Rajasthan
Whereas parts of northeast India, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are facing floods, some states in India are staring at a drought as they have received scanty rainfall this monsoon season.
Also Read: Large-scale deficient monsoon rainfall across Odisha triggers fear of drought
For instance, Odisha is preparing for a drought year as 27 of its total 30 districts have received deficient rainfall and farmers are staring at huge crop losses. The three districts that officially fall under the category of ‘normal’ rainfall have also reported a negative departure in rainfall.
Since the beginning of the monsoon season, between June 1 and August 27, Jajpur and Bhadrak districts have reported the highest rainfall departures of minus 56 per cent and minus 49 per cent, respectively.
