World Bank MOOC Final Project: Floods in Assam

Floods in Assam

This project is prepared in the partial fulfillment of the requirements of the MOOC: Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risks for Development offered by World Bank. 

About the Course: This course is based on the World Bank’s flagship report, the World Development Report 2014, Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development. The course synthesizes, in an easily accessible and interactive way, the Report’s main messages and policy recommendations, along with additional up-to-date research and experience related to risk management in the developing world. It guides us, through expert videos, a game, and several animations, to identify critical gaps in risk management and to move from being a “crisis fighter” to becoming a proactive and systematic risk manager.

Project Title: Floods in Assam

Digital Resource: The following poster is created in order to highlight the risks and dangers involved with the floods occurring in Assam. 

 Target Audience: The digital resource was created to get the message to as many people as possible, from global leaders to our own community and family. Some people may not have a background in Risk Management therefore the content is developed in a crisp and concise way for better understanding of the problem. 

Introduction: Flood is a recurrent problem in Assam. Every year a large areas come under the grips of floods which causes extensive damage to properties and crops and disrupts communication system. The floods are causing losses to agriculture and other assets of the people increasing their social vulnerability by decreasing the coping capability of people in the rural areas of Assam. 

Facts and Figures: 

• Rainfall in Assam ranges from 240 cms to 625 cms
• Frequent Cyclonic storms
• Landslides, bursting of temporary bunds is very common
• 31.5 mha of agricultural land prone to floods
• 8000 ha of land destroyed due to river bank erosion
• Flood damages from 1953 to 1995 estimated at 4400 crores. 

Impact of Floods: There are various impacts due to the floods occurring in Assam. Some of them are highlighted below:   

• Displacement of people: 
  The people gets displaced due to flooding of their housing land 
  and earning sources. For their better livelihood they rush to some better places and for their better livelihood to 
  various parts of the districts and town areas.  

• Heavy burden of diseases: When river floods the housing land they take shelter in some slum areas like road embankment which are not suitable for health. Moreover flood and erosion affected areas does not get adequate medical facilities. Some medical centers also get affected by floods. 

• Affects Agricultural productivity: When river floods villages it adversely affect to the occupation of the people of flooded areas and people losses all lands for occupation with agriculture. For better earning people run to urban areas creating un-manageable situations in urban areas. 

• Increases Landless labors: Due to floods there is an increase in land less labor. Due to deforestation landless labor acquires fire woods etc for fuel automatically increases deforestation of the areas. 

• Hinders Capital Formation: Floods hinders the formation of capital. Capital cannot forms due to lack of production. which turn causes lack of income due to their indebtedness. The farmer does not make capital formation which leads to lack of funds. Moreover the lack of capital makes them stick to traditional and old form of farming techniques leading to lesser agricultural productivity. 

• Isolation from geographical areas: The flooded area are geographically isolated from the forward places and therefore many problems arises in those flooded areas.

• Shortage of Crop lands: Due to flood, agricultural land become short, which also reduces the housing land for people. Growing population are not capable to feed for them and thus arises economic problems in society.

• Salinity of Lands: The soil contains certain salts which are harmful for the plants so long as these salts lie deep in the earth there is no problems. But they are bought to the surface  by the seeping of the canal water into the lower layers thus forcing sub soil water to come up. As the sub soil ground water land rises the salt of the earth come up to the surface ruining crops and making cultivation impossible. 

• Affects Transport systems: Due to floods, roads are destroyed resulting in communication problem in those area. Road construction are not possible those areas, so society faces the social problems in flooded areas.

Strategies for Survival: Household’s ability to adapt with flood depends on people’s socioeconomic and environmental conditions, such as education, income and occupation. Though, floods causes the loss of lives and properties, people’s indigenous coping techniques significantly reduce their vulnerability without outside assistance. Some of the common strategies that people follow are described below:

• Shifting of the houses out of the flood and erosion prone areas.
• Guard wall by bamboo on the sides of the river to minimize the effects of erosion.
• Relocation of damageable properties.
• Construction of raised platform with basic civil amenities.
• Change in crop calendars and utilization of sustainable varieties.
• Flood insurance practices.
• Development of agro forestry and watershed management practices.
• Installation of floods warning system and its proper execution

Suggestions: Some suggestions for improved flood control measures are mentioned below: 

• Sustainable embankment construction and its proper maintenance.
• Flood plain zoning is essential to minimize the vulnerability of river bank erosion and flood.
• Land Relocation assurance is one of the appropriate strategies to cope up with such disaster.
• Flood forecasting, erosion prediction, quality data acquisition, regional and international co-operation, research to understand the river system etc. come under immediate actions to be done. Before implementation, long term strategies need in depth studies. For the successful implementation of flood control measures, it is imperative to have a detailed knowledge and understanding of the hydrological and Geo-morphological aspects of river.
• The flood level during the rainy season attains endangering heights with silting of the river bed, so large scale afforestation particularly in the catchment area will increase infiltration of the surface water to ground thus reducing sediments load to the stream. Riparian vegetation helps in protecting river bank from erosion as soil binders and minimizing the thrust of river flow. Riparian vegetation is one of the most effective techniques in safe guarding bank erosion.