[Assam] Living with floods (The Assam Tribune,09.08.2007)

[Buljit Buragohain]

EDITORIAL 

  
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    MESSAGE FOR TODAY
Well, frankly, the problem as I see it at this moment in time is whether I should just lie down under all this hassle and let them walk all over me, or whether I should just say OK, I get the message, and do myself in.
— CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES

Living with floods
   
  In a recent photo published in The Assam Tribune under the caption ‘Living with floods’, three young village girls were seen standing in knee-deep water in a flood-hit village in Dibrugarh district. What was of interest in an otherwise dismal flood scene was the innovative use of objects of day-to-day life in a flood ambience. The girls were working on a wooden grinder which was elevated from the ground, as such, the flood waters could not touch it. Similarly, in the background we could see bamboo houses standing on stilts, raised to a considerable level from the ground so that even during high floods, the people and their belongings were safe from the vagaries of the flood water. In the north bank of the Brahmaputra and in the Upper Assam riverine areas, people of the ethnic Mising community have been using these innovative ways of habitation for centuries, as they lived by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries. These had helped them to cut their losses during the
 high floods, besides facilitating them to carry on with their normal lives. With the flood waters now spreading their devastation to even larger areas due to various factors like increase in population and habitation, environmental damage and change in topography, large-scale deforestation etc., the traditional practices of these simple people appear to hold the key for salvation of a large section of people. Traditionally, people in areas not regularly exposed to floods used to build their barns on raised flatforms in order to protect their grains. This in a way reflected the economic condition of the people of the times. However, times have changed and flood waters entering the houses of the affected people may leave a trail of destruction which may take years for a family to recover economically. Significantly, about 700 schools were underwater during the high floods this year in the worst-hit Dhemaji district alone. The impact on the students can well be imagined.
 Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is on record to have said that if we cannot solve the flood problem in the State, then we should at least learn to live with floods. This is very true considering the geographical and topographical contours of the Brahmaputra Valley. It is time the government and NGOs working in this direction seriously take up this issue in right earnest. Proper scientific studies could be made to identify in what ways we could minimise flood damage to hearth and homes and how we could lead a normal life even in the worst of times. Till the time permanent measures could be adopted to tackle the recurring problem, this could go a long way in alleviating the sufferings of the people.

  (The Assam Tribune,09.08.2007)
   
   
  http://dhemaji.bihu.in/



       
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