Floods have affected more than 1 million people across 2,690 villages in 25 districts of Assam, India, killing 101 people as of 11 August and leaving thousands homeless. The disaster followed heavy rain that overwhelmed rivers and sent water, mud and debris through communities in the state’s Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat districts.
In some areas, residents spent nights on rooftops or elevated roads, while contaminated wells left people without safe drinking water. Officials fear the death toll will rise, and low-lying parts of the three districts remained flooded by 11 August.
Homes, farms and livestock have been destroyed
In the Sivasagar village of Nepalikhuti, at least 10 people from a population of about 3,000 have died and many remain missing, according to residents. Thick mud and silt cover the village, while drowned vehicles, dead cattle and damaged homes show the scale of the flooding.
The disaster has also devastated agriculture. Himadrijyoti Dutta of the farmers’ organisation Krishak Nyas said floods had ruined 95% of farmland across Sivasagar. In one family’s case, a two-hectare paddy field was destroyed, leaving farmers and their relatives facing the loss of both food and income.
Related coverage: Severe Monsoon Rains Cause Widespread Flooding and Damage Across Asian Countries.
Why the flooding became so destructive
Assam is especially vulnerable to flooding: about 40% of its land can be inundated by the Brahmaputra, Barak and smaller rivers, and the state experiences at least two or three major floods each year.
Partha Jyoti Das, a water and climate hazards specialist at Aaranyak, said heavier rainfall linked to the climate crisis combined with landscape damage from deforestation, encroachment, excavation, mining and quarrying. He said runoff from hills in Nagaland carried debris, mud, silt and soil into already vulnerable areas.
Relief efforts continue as migration risks grow
Sivasagar district commissioner Mridul Yadav said departments were coordinating rescue operations, relief distribution and damage assessments. Health camps, medicines, drinking water, livestock fodder and relief kits were being provided, while several relief camps remained open.
Local groups have also been distributing food, clothing, sanitary supplies and other essentials. About 40 members of One Northeast Motorcycle Club were travelling to affected areas, where many people were living in plastic-sheet or tarpaulin tents on roads and higher ground.
Guwahati’s Cotton University geography professor Kalyan Das said the destruction of homes and farmland would force some villagers to migrate for work. Assam’s earlier employment-driven migration had already risen from 16.3% in 1991 to 24.4% in 2011, with floods and soil erosion identified as primary causes in rural areas.
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