| FLOOD AND FLOOD CONTROL MEASURES
|
8.1.0.
|
The
recurrence of flood and erosion continued to be the burning problems
of Assam. The Brahmaputra and the Barak are the main two rivers, which
causes major problems during the monsoon period every year in the
shape of floods, bank erosion and drainage congestion. In fact, the
successive waves of devastating floods in almost every year have virtually
destroyed the economy, more particularly, the rural economy of the
State. The main factors causing extensive floods are the adverse physiography
of the region, heavy rainfall, excessive sedimentation, frequent occurrence
of earthquakes, hill/ land sliding, reduction of forest area and encroachment
of the riverine area. Usually Assam experience incessant rainfalls
during the monsoon season, which normally commence from the month
of May and remain till mid October. Apart from this, occurrence of
floods in Assam has direct correlation with rainfall in the catchments
areas of neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and the adjacent country of Bhutan. |
|
|
8.1.1.
|
In
Assam, the flood and erosion cause enormous damages to the crops,
livestock, land, property and bring untold miseries to the people
at large. The National Flood Commission had estimated the area vulnerable
to floods in Assam as 31.60 lakh hectares against 335.16 lakh hectares
for whole India. Assam thus accounts for 9.4 per cent of total flood
prone area of the country. Due to flood problem, the State has not
been able to achieve the desired progress and prosperity in spite
of having vast natural resources. During the year 2002, a total of
674.148 hectares of area were affected by floods resulting in heavy
damages, the value of which is estimated at Rs.18,678.60 lakh. The
table 8.1 shows the extent of damages caused by flood
in the State over the last five years. |
|
|
| FLOOD CONTROL MEASURES: |
8.1.2.
|
In
order to prevent the menace of recurring floods, different flood management
schemes/projects are in operation in the State. The Table
8.2 shows the achievement under various flood control programmes
in Assam. |
|
|
8.1.3
|
Achievement
and Expenditure made under different heads of flood control measures
in Assam during the last six years are shown in tables 8.3 to 8.7. |
|
Table: 8.3 |
|
Table: 8.4 |
|
Table: 8.5 |
|
Table: 8.6 |
|
Table: 8.7 |
|
The
New Schemes to be taken up by the Water Resources Department, Assam
are shown in Table 8.8. |
|
The
Department also completed 92 Nos. of Flood Damage Repair (FDR) Schemes
in different Districts during the year 2002-2003 and the amount involved
for the same was Rs.2760.85 lakh. |
|
By,
adopting short-term measures, the State Water Resources Department
has protected 16.18 lakh hectares of land from flood and erosion out
of 31.60 lakh hectares of flood prone areas. For effective management
of flood and erosion in the valley, long term measures in the form
of storage reservoir in the upper catchments areas of the river basin
and watershed management are considered very essential. |
