Assam lost 8,000 sq km of land in erosion
10L families become landless, forced to move from one place to another
Assam has lost at least 8,000 square kilometres of land that is close to 60 lakh bighas of land since 1951 due to devastating floods that rocks the state every year.
Referring to the state revenue department records, former additional chief secretary C.K. Das pointed out that as land holdings in Assam are much smaller compared to some other states of the country, it is estimated that around 10 lakh families have become landless over the years.
Asserting that erosion is a much bigger threat to Assam than floods, he said that people can recover from the losses that they generally suffer due to flood by resorting various alternate means of farming after the flood water recedes. But in case of erosion,
people are not only losing their lands but also compelled to migrate from one place to others as there have been instances of many villages washed away in erosion, he said.
Referring to disasters like earthquakes which had devastating impact on geography of the region, Mr Das said that the bed of rivers became shallow after earthquakes in 1897 and 1950, which reduced the water carrying capacity
and problem of erosion aggravated. He pointed out that if one examines the maps of the Survey of India since 1872, it is easily visible that the width of the river Brahmaputra is increasing through its course through Assam.
Stressing that there should be a technical study on finding ways to protect the state from erosion, he admitted that quality of embankment has been one of the major reasons behanding the escalating devastation of rivers in Assam.
The state government has also been adopting some policy time to time to extend relief to families affected due to erosion. Authorities in the revenue department said that steps like giving one time grant of `5 lakh to families to buy land could be a sustainable solution to the problem for time being but not permanent.