Your Flood! My Flood!

Our town Silchar is facing unprecedented flooding this year. The extent of damage caused is simply massive and it may take years to recover from this calamity. I am aware that at this point in time, the priority is to arrange relief and minimize the loss of lives and properties. Yet, as we engage ourselves in fighting the floods, it is also imperative to introspect and fix accountability. 

So, who is responsible for this deluge? The government or we, the people? There are a lot of angry rants on social media blaming the government for their lack of action in repairing the bunds and embankments. A lot of people are also blaming the municipal authorities for not cleaning the drains on time. 

While these allegations are indeed true and the administration has a lot to answer, we must also ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions. The north-east has always been a high rainfall zone. The topography of the region is also designed to absorb high-intensity rainfall. While the hills are naturally blessed with a thick green cover to prevent rapid erosion, the plain areas have natural water bodies like ponds, large wetlands, and many rivers and canals.     

However, uncontrolled human greed has ensured that the topography of the region has been severely tampered with in the last few decades. The green cover of all the hills around Barak Valley, in Meghalaya as well as in Dima Hasao has drastically decreased due to illegal tree felling and unauthorised constructions. The depletion of the green cover has made the soil loose which is leading to frequent landslides. 

In the plains, the natural water bodies are being continuously filled up to make way for concrete structures. In Silchar town nowadays, it’s difficult to find ponds, while a couple of decades back, when we were growing up, almost every house had a pond. Natural canals like Rangirkhal are facing the issue of encroachment, as people are illegally filling up the water body to extend their properties. Dumping garbage into these canals has decreased their depth and therefore, their water carrying capacity. 

Other wetlands such as Malini Beel and Chatla have also been partially encroached and filled up, which had decreased their capacity to hold rain water. For years, illegal construction has continued in these waterbodies without any intervention from the authorities. 

Unplanned urbanisation has played a major role in creating this disaster. Earlier, low lying farmlands used to surround Silchar town. Areas adjacent to Sonai Road, Link Road, National Highway were farmlands, where a lot of rainwater used to get naturally accumulated thus draining out the excess rainwater from the residential and commercial areas. Even in the residential areas, there were a lot of vacant spaces in between, which helped in accommodating the water. 

However, with passage of time, most water bodies in the town have been filled up. The apartment my parents own stands on a piece of land created after filling up a pond. The low-lying farmlands have been filled up to make way for new residential areas without any planning for the drainage of water. The drains of the town are mostly filled with garbage like plastic which cannot be recycled. During my days as a student, I remember that the drains outside Barak Market in Rangirkhari used to be filled with plastic and other such garbage leaving no space at all for the flow of water. Last year when I visited the area, the scenario was exactly the same.

The outskirts of the town are blessed with small hillocks, the kind of topography suitable for tea plantations. However, over the years, these hillocks are being indiscriminately cut to cater the need for soil in the towns. On a drive to the university, one can see many such locations, from where a lot of soil is being continuously cut. This makes the soil loose and increases the possibility of mudslides.    

To add to all this is the inaction of the authorities. An inauguration plaque for Silchar’s master drainage scheme stands in a derelict condition in Rangirkhari. No effort has been made over the years to execute the project. Permissions for construction of houses and filling up of water bodies have been granted without any consideration of the consequences. Of course, in a town where the main water body in the city centre is filled up by the municipal board to construct a mall, very little can be expected.        

With the passage of time, we shall certainly overcome this calamity and life will come back to normal. But let us hope, we will learn some lessons this time. The local administration should appoint a team of environmentalists who can study the potential ecological damage, such illegal constructions, filling up of water bodies have done. Another team of urban planners must then come together to replan the future development of the town keeping in mind this region’s environmental vulnerabilities. 

For the time being though, I would conclude by saying that our thoughts are with all those in trouble now. We all hope that Silchar shall overcome and stand on her feet again.