When ravaging annual floods wreak havoc in Assam 

(a photo-essay )

Recurring annual floods push millions of people in Assam to penury. This year too over 1.7 million in 23 districts of the state have been affected.

The affected districts are Lakhimpur, Golghat, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri, Darrang, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Chirang, Sivasagar, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, . Biswanth, Nagaon, Kamrup, South Kamrup, Karbi Anglong and Kamrup (Metrpolitan).

Surface communication is snapped in all the affected districts. Embankments are breached, bridges are washed away and roads are submerged by floodwater.

Country boats and plantain rafts become the main mode of communication in flood-hit areas.

The official death toll has been put at 23. A flood bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority on July 30 states that 0.2 million people were rendered homeless and forced to take shelter in 402 make shift relief camps on embankments and highlands. Authorities have set up 291 relief distribution centres.

Floodwater of the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries has destroyed 1,95,357 hectares of cropland in 2893 affected villages.  

Wanton damage and destruction caused by floodwater lay bare the unpreparedness of the authorities for management of this magnitude in the state despite that fact ravaging flood recurs every year and leave a trail of destruction across the state devastating life and crippling economy in rural Assam.

However, there is no one in Delhi and Dispur to listen to their woes.

Photo and text by Dasarath Deka

( Dasarath Deka is a freelance photojournalist based in Guwahati. He travels extensively in the region to capture stories. He can be reached at [email protected] and 9435114793 )