After Floods, Parts Of Assam Battle Massive Riverbank Erosion

Guwahati:

The Brahmaputra river has turned 51-year-old Prafulla Saharia right into a refugee. In 2007, it eroded his village Malhu, his dwelling and 70 bighas of farm land. Since then, erosion pressured him to maneuver dwelling thrice. The every day wage labourer now fears village Lengeribori, the place is now staying, will probably be devoured up by the swollen Brahmaputra any day.

“This place where we are sheltered now will also get eroded for sure; we faced such a massive flood a few days back, the government only gave us rice, dal and salt, nothing else,” Prafulla Saharia instructed NDTV.

The floods in Assam have receded a bit, however individuals in a number of components of the state at the moment are battling riverbank erosion. In Morigaon district over 4.5 lakh individuals had been affected by floods this yr. At Bhuragaon income circle of Morigaon, village after village at the moment are on the point of being swallowed by the Brahmaputra.

Saharia’s neighbour Jamuna weeps inconsolably as she reveals her home, first broken by floods, and now threatened by erosion. She desires Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assist.

“We hope that PM Modi will listen to our cries and help. We keep on hearing that flood-erosion mitigation projects will start but nothing is seen on the ground. We need a permanent solution,” Jamuna Saharia stated.

Since 1950, the Brahmaputra river has eroded over 4.27 lakh hectares or 7.Four per cent of Assam’s land space. The state loses practically 8,000 hectares every year, much like the dimensions of Goa.

“There is acute land scarcity; if someone loses land and if we have to rehabilitate, it is difficult,” stated Chaitali Dutta.

In Bhuragaon, 57 of 122 villages have disappeared with the Brahmaputra shifting 11 km inland from its essential channel. Across Assam, at the least 880 villages have eroded within the final 50 years.

Dutta added that to the north, the Brahmaputra is at 1 km and to the west it’s barely half a km, however with rising water degree there are floods within the space.