Repeated Floods in Assam Reflect the State Govt's Failure and Neglect of an Avoidable Disaster

The Wire

21-06-2025

Each monsoon, Assam is inundated – literally and figuratively. Nature is implicated, but the sheer extent and regularity of flood destruction suggest something more sinister: an abiding collapse of governance, planning, and inter-state coordination. What must be addressed as a manageable crisis has instead been normalised as an annual show of misery.
Recently, the Lakhimpur district was hit when North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO)'s Ranganadi Hydro Electric Project (RHEP) flooded more than 230 villages with an unplanned release of water. This is one among the numerous instances. Heavy rains also cause these floods, but not alone.
Most times, these floods are planned disasters; due to the absence of regulation of discharges from hydroelectric power plants in higher areas such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and even Bhutan, which appear to spill willy-nilly while ignoring the impact on areas below.
Assam has had to pay dearly for this neglect again and again. The Ranganadi project has a long history of causing flash floods in the districts of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. In 2025, gates were opened between 50 mm and 1,250 mm within 24 hours. The Ranganadi River, overpowered beyond its limits, burst its banks at 1:00 AM, leaving destruction in its trail – more than 243 villages flooded, two people dead, and huge losses in livelihood and infrastructure. And still, there were no warnings. No alerts. No response plan.
Not an isolated catastrophe
This catastrophe is not an isolated one. Similar unannounced dam releases caused devastating floods in 2017, 2018, and earlier as well. The story is always the same – sudden surges, breached embankments, destroyed livelihoods, and traumatised communities.
One would assume that such a repeated pattern of destruction would prompt systemic reform. Assam is covered by the Dam Safety Act, 2021, which mandates enhanced regulation, safety audits, and disaster preparedness around dams. Yet, on the ground, its enforcement is still essentially tokenistic.
While the government says it has established a dam safety authority and a state dam committee, there is no openness regarding their functioning. I brought up this point in the state assembly in 2022, and insisted on an expert committee for inter-state coordination of dam safety.
The then Power Minister Nandita Garlosa gave assurances. But in this year's crisis, these committees were silent, invisible, and ultimately ineffective.
The fundamental issue is the failure of Assam to establish institutional frameworks. Even after numerous legislative debates and professional suggestions, there exist no signed compensation deals between Assam and organisations such as NEEPCO, NHPC, or Bhutanese hydropower organisations.
The current legislation lacks MoUs with sufficient legal force to hold agencies responsible for losses of life and livelihood stemming from floods caused by dam releases. Victims, predominantly farmers and daily wage workers, are left to recover by themselves.
Similarly, there is a lack of a universal flood insurance scheme for poor families. A well-balanced policy would mandate dam operators to contribute to such a fund. However, with the power and popular support, the incumbent government has not brought it about. The absence of resources is not the issue; rather, it is a deficiency in political resolve.
NEEPCO has also not conducted any scientific investigation of the long-term effects of its dam operation on the downstream people. No Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out post-facto despite repeated demands, and no information is made available in the public domain.
Planning of stage II of the Ranganadi project, bringing in a 134-meter-high storage dam, is going forward without carrying out any downstream risk assessment. This is a shocking oversight, particularly given the havoc wrought by Stage I.
The embankments of Assam narrate a tale of deterioration as well as neglect. Over the past decade, over Rs. 1,000 crore has been spent on them, but they remain weak structurally, silted, and at times breached. Utilisation of contemporary erosion-resistant materials such as geo-bags or vetiver grass is almost negligible. Anti-erosion works are subcontracted with no local consultation, and they go with the first big flood of the year. There is no basin-level plan, no audit, no accountability.
BJP's 2016–2025 Vision Document reads like a list of unkept promises
In this backdrop, the BJP's 2016–2025 Vision Document reads like a list of unkept promises. The much-hyped dredging of the Brahmaputra between Sadiya and Dhubri is still in the cold storage – no detailed project report made, no budget disclosed, and not an inch dug.
The island of Majuli is still losing land. Ten villages have already gone in two years, and the promised measures to save them are yet to take shape. The River Research Institute sleeps. The Barak Board is aforgotten press release. Even new ideas, such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)-tied plantation of bamboo and mangroves along erosion-prone areas, have not been tried. All that is left are yearly tragedies and hollow headlines.
It is time to break free from excuses. The government's unpreparedness is not a lapse – it is a systemic failure. The Centre also needs to be held accountable. Though it set up high-powered committees and assured ₹15,000 crore under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP), very little has been delivered to Assam. There is no genuine effort to harmonise water release timing between upstream and downstream states.
The Assamese cannot go on suffering because of administrative lethargy and political complacency. It requires more than compensation cheques issued belatedly. It requires a change of mindset – radical transformation from merely being reactive in nature and providing relief to being proactive in approach and offering protection.
Assam must urgently enact its own flood plain zoning Act and sign binding compensation and water-release agreements with dam-operating agencies. The government should collaborate with national bodies to deploy artificial intelligence (AI)-based flood forecasting systems, introduce a universal flood insurance scheme for vulnerable zones, and conduct independent audits of all embankments
The era of tokenism is over. The government led by Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has failed not due to incapacity but due to unwillingness. While floods may be natural, the suffering they cause is political. Only preventive, transparent, and accountable governance can end this cycle of avoidable disaster
Let this be the final monsoon in which people lose their lives due to the inaction of leaders.
The author is the leader of opposition in the Assam state assembly.