EDITORIAL
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MESSAGE FOR TODAY
Well, frankly, the problem as I see it at this moment in time is whether I
should just lie down under all this hassle and let them walk all over me, or
whether I should just say OK, I get the message, and do myself in.
CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES
Living with floods
In a recent photo published in The Assam Tribune under the caption Living
with floods, three young village girls were seen standing in knee-deep water
in a flood-hit village in Dibrugarh district. What was of interest in an
otherwise dismal flood scene was the innovative use of objects of day-to-day
life in a flood ambience. The girls were working on a wooden grinder which was
elevated from the ground, as such, the flood waters could not touch it.
Similarly, in the background we could see bamboo houses standing on stilts,
raised to a considerable level from the ground so that even during high floods,
the people and their belongings were safe from the vagaries of the flood water.
In the north bank of the Brahmaputra and in the Upper Assam riverine areas,
people of the ethnic Mising community have been using these innovative ways of
habitation for centuries, as they lived by the river Brahmaputra and its
tributaries. These had helped them to cut their losses during the
high floods, besides facilitating them to carry on with their normal lives.
With the flood waters now spreading their devastation to even larger areas due
to various factors like increase in population and habitation, environmental
damage and change in topography, large-scale deforestation etc., the
traditional practices of these simple people appear to hold the key for
salvation of a large section of people. Traditionally, people in areas not
regularly exposed to floods used to build their barns on raised flatforms in
order to protect their grains. This in a way reflected the economic condition
of the people of the times. However, times have changed and flood waters
entering the houses of the affected people may leave a trail of destruction
which may take years for a family to recover economically. Significantly, about
700 schools were underwater during the high floods this year in the worst-hit
Dhemaji district alone. The impact on the students can well be imagined.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is on record to have said that if we cannot solve
the flood problem in the State, then we should at least learn to live with
floods. This is very true considering the geographical and topographical
contours of the Brahmaputra Valley. It is time the government and NGOs working
in this direction seriously take up this issue in right earnest. Proper
scientific studies could be made to identify in what ways we could minimise
flood damage to hearth and homes and how we could lead a normal life even in
the worst of times. Till the time permanent measures could be adopted to tackle
the recurring problem, this could go a long way in alleviating the sufferings
of the people.
(The Assam Tribune,09.08.2007)
http://dhemaji.bihu.in/
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