'Water has reached our chest': 1.7 lakh people hit by Assam floods

📌 Summary:

• Five people died and over 3.6 lakh were affected after incessant rain caused flooding across Assam; eastern Assam was worst hit, with five rivers flowing above the danger level on Monday

• Deaths: four people died in Jorhat district on Monday and one in Karbi Anglong

• Rescue deployment: six NDRF teams with 24 boats in Sivasagar and Charaideo districts, and two teams with 10 boats in Jorhat. As of Monday evening 6,710 people had been evacuated by boat — 5,526 from Charaideo and 1,000 from Jorhat

• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Assam government has asked the Army and the Air Force to be on standby to support evacuation and rescue if needed

• River status per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA): the Dikhow at Sivasagar was in an "extreme flood situation" at 9 am Monday, flowing 2.10 metres above its danger level of 92.4 metres; the Dhansiri in Golaghat was in a "severe flood situation"; the Burhidihing at Khowang, the Disang at Nganglamuraghat and the Brahmaputra at Neamatighat were all above the danger level

• Ground account: a Nazira resident in Sivasagar described rain from Sunday morning flooding paddy fields and then the swollen Dikhow overtopping and reaching chest height inside homes within a short time

• Mitigation works underway: sand-filled bags laid along the Dikhow embankment, piping at the Disang embankment in Baruahchuk being addressed, Type-B geobags dumped at Santipur to restore the Disang riverbank, and flood-fighting works continuing at the Jhanji embankment

• Knock-on effects: over 30 trains were cancelled, diverted or short-terminated as the floods disrupted rail services

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — disaster management (flood risk and vulnerability, institutional response through NDRF and state disaster management authorities, embankment-based structural mitigation and its limits). GS1 — the drainage system of the Brahmaputra basin and the geomorphological causes of Assam's recurrent flooding.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• The Dikhow, Disang, Burhidihing and Dhansiri are south-bank tributaries of the Brahmaputra in eastern Assam
• Danger level of the Dikhow at Sivasagar: 92.4 metres
• ASDMA — Assam State Disaster Management Authority — is the state-level body under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; the NDRF is the specialised central response force under the same Act
• Geobags (geotextile sand-filled bags) are used for riverbank protection and anti-erosion works

🔑 Key Term: Danger level — the river gauge reading notified by the Central Water Commission above which flooding of the surrounding area becomes likely; readings beyond it are graded as severe and then extreme flood situations.