Flood That Unites Assam And Bangladesh
By
Nava Thakuria, New Age Islam
30 June
2022
As The
Devastating Flood Embraces Vast Areas Of Assam (In Northeast India) And
Bangladesh, The Mighty Brahmaputra Comes
To The Focus Again As The Lone Male River After Originating In Tibet (Now Under
China) Flows Through Both The Countries Before Culminating In The Bay Of Bengal
Main
Points:
1. Monsoon
rains in the entire region usually start by the end of May, but this time heavy
downpours affected the vast cultivable land by June itself.
2. According
to Assam State disaster management
authority, over 3,000 revenue villages got submerged by the flood water.
3. Identified
as one of the world’s climate-vulnerable countries, Bangladesh receives
rain-fed river water from India where Brahmaputra and Barak contribute a large
volume of water in every monsoon season.
------
Villagers row a makeshift raft
through a flooded field to reach a safer place at the flood-affected Mayong
village in Morigaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, India.
[Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters]
-----
As the
devastating flood embraces vast areas of Assam (in northeast India) and
Bangladesh, the mighty Brahmaputra comes
to the focus again as the lone male river after originating in Tibet (now under
China) flows through both the countries before culminating in the Bay of
Bengal. Incessant rains for many days in the third week of June had inflated
all the tributaries of Brahmaputra and it ended up inundating over one million
hectares of land affecting millions of people in both the south Asian
developing countries.
The monsoon
rains in the entire region usually start by the end of May, but this time heavy
downpours affected the vast cultivable land by June itself where at least 5
million people (one million children) in
northeast India and over 6 million (1.50 million children) in its lower
riparian areas of northern Bangladesh got severely affected.
According
to the government agencies, nearly 2.5 million people in Assam rendered
homeless where over 3 million Bangladeshi people take shelter in makeshift
camps.
About 125
people have lost their lives due to the flood and landslides in the hilly areas
of Assam and its neighbouring State of Meghalaya. Bangladesh witnessed the
death of over 50 people in the flood related incidents. Remote villagers in
both the countries are struggling to survive with the crisis of adequate food
items, drinking water and medicines for the elder and children. The government
armed forces in both the countries have been engaged to rescue the stranded
families and also supply essential commodities to affected villages.
According
to Assam State disaster management
authority, over 3,000 revenue villages got submerged by the flood water. It
also affects over a hundred thousand hectares of crops as well as washes away a
large number of domestic animals. The
world famous abode of precious one-horned rhinoceros, Kaziranga National
Park also witnesses flooding in its northern part on the bank of Brahmaputra.
In Bangladesh, over one million hectares of farmland are under water. Even the
civil air-services in Sylhet region faced repeated disruptions for many days.
Identified
as one of the world’s climate-vulnerable countries, Bangladesh receives
rain-fed river water from India where Brahmaputra and Barak contribute a large
volume of water in every monsoon season. Annual floods affect the populous
country’s agriculture, related infrastructure and so thus its economy.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently took aerial surveys of flood
affected north and northeast localities of the densely populated country. She
commented that different agencies were engaged in rescuing the trapped people
and supporting them with reliefs.
On the
other hand, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma continues visiting the
flood affected areas to take stock of the situation where thousands of families
are still in the administration run relief camps. The flood situation in the
Barak valley continues to be grim, where the power supply has been interrupted
(so does the cell-phone network) for many days. The road-connectivity to
Silchar has been disturbed and even many trains connecting the southern valley
have been cancelled or rescheduled. The authority started fixed (reasonable)
price air-services between Guwahati and Silchar. Brahmaputra, which originates
at Manasarovar of Kailash range inside
Tibet with
an elevation of over 5,000 meters, runs over 3,900 kilometres till its
culmination. The third largest river in
the world has over 50 tributaries in the region and it carries a high level of
sedimentation. During the monsoon season (usually June to October), the river
water from the Himalayas receives an extra volume of sediment-water from
the rain-fed tributaries that adds to
the intensity of floods in both the countries. A huge area of fertile
agricultural lands in India and Bangladesh is damaged by the flood causing
massive annual economic losses.
Nearly 90,000 people have been moved
to state-run relief shelters as water levels in rivers run high and large
swaths of land remain submerged in most districts in Assam, India. [Anuwar
Hazarika/Reuters]
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Realizing
the gravity of flood-situation, the European Union has offered
€ 2 million (1 Euro = 83 Indian Rupee)
in emergency aid to the affected families of Bangladesh and India. In a
26 June message, the EU termed the
current wave of flood as worse than those of 1998 and 2004 and released €1.2
million for the affected people in Bangladesh and €800,000 for India focusing
on Assam. The money is expected to be channelized through the EU's humanitarian
aid partners on the ground, so that the affected and displaced families can get
relief.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has assured the Assam government of all necessary
support from the Union government in New
Delhi. Meanwhile, the Reliance Industries Limited’s managing director Mukesh
Ambani and his son Anant Ambani donated Rs 250 million to the CM’s relief fund
with an aim to help the people reeling under the devastating floods. Government
run Oil India Limited extended Rs 50 million to the relief fund. While
Mumbai-based producer Bhushan Kumar donated Rs 11, 00,000 filmmaker Rohit
Shetty, actor Arjun Kapoor and singer Sonu Nigam also extended Rs 5,00,000 each
to the government.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/flood-assam-bangladesh/d/127362
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