Assam Floods: The Other Side of the Story

Greetings to all my Friends.

As we all know the state of Assam is facing severe floods.
Around 25 lakh people in 26 districts have been affected.
It is sixth worst flood since 1988, around 32 years ago when death toll was 46 and 5.6 million people were affected.
The floods in 1988 affected states such as UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam.

Floods affect people as well as wildlife by 20th of July, floods have taken 84 lives.

And talking about Wildlife more than 80% of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve(KNPTR) is submerged in water.

Fun Fact :- UNESCO declared Kaziranga a World Heritage site in 1985 and it has been declared as a tiger reserve in 2007.
Kaziranga National park which lies between Brahmaputra river and Karbi Anglong Hills; lies in flood prone area.

 But despite all this destruction, damage and (loss of lives, property) outbreak of deadly diseases.

Shockingly enough, used PPE (personal protective equipment) kits from hospitals and COVID Care Centres are being washed up in floods.


But
Do floods have benefits? Is it beneficial for the wildlife of Kaziranga ecosystem- for the ecosystem of the wetlands…?
 Let's see other side of the story.

Researchers believe that floods are necessary for Kaziranga.
Now a list of things that happen due to floods in the riverine ecosystem.

Floods help replenish Kaziranga, as water bodies maintain its landscape of wetlands and grasslands.

 The floods also help to get rid of unwanted plants, such as water hyacinth, otherwise grasslands would have become Woodlands.

Fish Population is also restored when the receding water of floods, carry marine life in Brahmaputra river.

But there is a catch, earlier a severe flood would come once in 10 years now they happen every other year.

Climate change models predict that floods will become increasingly devastating with each passing year.

From year 2016-20, excluding 2018 all years have witnessed high floods.

As we know floods up to a certain degree are necessary evil in fact beneficial for the survival of ecosystem of the state.

Now let's come to the part:- what States can do, and they are actually doing on ground level to avoid disease outbreak.

Door-to-door vaccination is organised every year in pre floods period which is a good thing and should be carried every year.

Conservative initiatives for Karbi Anglong Hills which plays a crucial role in supporting animals in the times of floods, experts believe that emphasis should be on securing wildlife corridor maintaining and constructing more wildlife corridors.

More and more artificial islands should be made because the old ones are in the dilapidated form.


If you liked our work, do share this and subscribe to our blog and be the voice of the final year students.


If you have any suggestions then do comment in the comment section below.

We Thank You for giving your Valuable Time.