India’s northeastern region has been severely impacted by floods and landslides once again, exposing the frontier zone’s extreme vulnerability to natural hazards.
At least 46 people have been killed and over half a million people affected across the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, and Sikkim. The region has reported over 800 landslides so far this year, mostly in the hill states, with Mizoram alone accounting for 675. Transportation has been crippled all over the region with road, rail, and ferry services disrupted due to continuous and heavy rainfall.
A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has been identified as the cause of the incessant rains that crossed the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara (Bangladesh) last week. The system moved northward from the Bay of Bengal and made landfall over Bangladesh, gradually weakening into a depression.
Of all the Indian states, Assam, which has a central location in the northeastern region, has suffered the most with 17 deaths reported so far across the state’s 21 districts. Nearly 700,000 people have been affected in the state as the flood situation worsened, with 1,494 villages totally inundated.
Among the most adversely affected places was the state capital, Guwahati, which is the gateway to the Northeast and the biggest city in the region. It witnessed unprecedented floods, and large parts of the city were submerged for over a week. The government deployed rubber dinghies for rescue operations in low-lying zones. Some 41,317 people have been provided shelter in 405 relief camps set up by the government. Recurrent power outages have left many areas in the city in darkness for hours. Schools and colleges were shut and state government employees were granted special leave.
Many factors, such as blocked drainage systems, unchecked hill-cutting, encroachment on wetlands, and water flowing from neighboring Meghalaya have contributed to the appalling situation in Guwahati, which was once surrounded by densely forested hills. The government has designated 366 locations across the city as landslide-prone.
Meanwhile, India’s Supreme Court has taken cognizance of Guwahati’s recurrent flood problem and issued notices to the governments of Assam, Meghalaya, and also to the apex court’s empowered committee. The flood also prompted the government to resume demolition drives at the ecologically sensitive Silsako Beel area in the city for the construction of a water reservoir for storing excess water during the monsoon.
Next to Assam in terms of damage was Manipur where over 165,000 people have been affected, mostly in the state’s Imphal valley. An estimated 35,242 houses across the state had been damaged. Three major rivers – Imphal, Kongba, and Nambul – were reported to be overflowing and have breached embankments in many localities. Over 4,000 people have been rescued in joint operations by different government agencies and given shelter in 78 relief camps. On June 5, the situation was reported to have improved, with the water level receding in the major rivers.
Tripura has seen fewer people displaced by the floods as compared to Assam and Manipur. Till early this month, over 10,000 people were staying across 66 government-run relief camps. The majority of the inhabitants in the relief camps were from West Tripura district, where 2,352 families have taken refuge. The Tripura government is also examining a long-term resettlement plan for residents living in flood-prone areas and especially along the Haora riverbanks in Agartala.
Landslides triggered by continuous rains, rather than floods, were the cause of maximum deaths and destruction in the three hill states of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the death toll has risen to 12 across 24 districts, and over 30,000 people have been affected. Changlang on the eastern fringe of the state, which shares a border with Myanmar, is the worst-affected district with six villages submerged and 2,231 people rendered homeless. Around 2,292 people have been evacuated so far, and 2,231 of them are from Changlang alone. The major rivers and their tributaries are continuing to flow above the danger level.
So far, five people, including three refugees from Myanmar, are reported to have been killed in different districts of Mizoram, mostly from landslides and house collapses that occurred in 769 locations till June 5. More than 300 families of a total of 452 have been displaced and evacuated by government agencies. Many roads crisscrossing the hill state were blocked due to landslides.
Army personnel, rather than civilians, bore the brunt of the extreme weather in Sikkim. Three soldiers were killed and six went missing after a landslide struck a military camp in Chhaten, near Lachen town in Mangan district. A defense official said the landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall in the region. The Teesta River, which had sparked a disaster in the state almost two years ago, continues to flow above the danger mark following the heavy downpour.
India’s Northeast could be rendered more vulnerable with the dams being constructed in China. The world’s largest dam, being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River and near the border with Arunachal Pradesh, will generate three times as much electricity as the current record-holder, the Three Gorges Dam. There are indications that more dams are being planned in Tibet. The apprehension among a large section of military officers and local politicians is that these projects could be used as “water bombs” against India.
The threat assumes importance against the backdrop of the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan and the latter’s proximity to China. Early this month, a senior member of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization had hinted as much about the threat, raising concerns and prompting speculations in India.
The unfolding tragedy in India’s Northeast is a poignant reminder of the extreme vulnerability of the region to natural calamities. That the governments, especially in Assam, have failed to implement long-term policies to come to grips with the situation is beyond doubt. The same measures are pressed into action during every calamity, offering only temporary relief to the region’s inhabitants.