A flood of woes in Assam

The article details the devastating localized floods in Assam's Sivasagar, Charaideo, and Jorhat districts, which were historically less flood-prone. It highlights the immediate impact on villages, infrastructure, and livelihoods, and explores the multifaceted causes, including extreme rainfall, altered river systems (post-1950 earthquake), deforestation, infrastructure development, climate change, and rampant illegal coal, sand, and stone mining along the Assam-Nagaland border. The article criticizes the unpreparedness of local administration in these 'low-risk' areas and discusses legal interventions (PILs, NGT ban on rat-hole mining) that have largely been ignored. It emphasizes the need for climate-smart disaster management, surface water management, and addressing the trauma faced by flood survivors in a state where floods are becoming more unpredictable and catastrophic.