When the river runs high

Each year the embankments break and each year the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers flow over into the land, claiming hundreds of lives, destroying homes and livelihoods, and devastating the rich landscape. After 2004, this year was the worst by all accounts

A couple use a tyre to retrieve some clothes from their marooned house in Silchar town on June 30.

A damaged embankment on the banks of the Barak in the Bethukandi area of Silchar town. Data tabled in the Assam Assembly show that as many as 295 embankments have outlived their lives, as a result of which about 90 per cent of the total embankment length is prone to breaches.

ATTN. THIS IMAGE IS FOR GROUND ZERO PAGE ON SILCHAR FLOOD, ASSAM Assam, Silchar: 30/06/2022: Flood affected villagers take shelter in a relief camp near railway tracks in Silchar town in Cachar district of Assam on 30 June 2022. Recent flood has displaced thousands in the worst flood hit Silchar town of Assam. Photo: RITU RAJ KONWAR / The HinduPhoto: RITU RAJ KONWAR / The Hindu assam floods

Assam, Morigaon: 26/06/2022: Women carrying dry straw in a boat for their cattle in the flood affected Morigaon district of Assam on Sunday, 26 June 2022. Though the flood situation has slightly improved, situation is still critical in most of the flood affected areas of Assam. Photo: RITU RAJ KONWAR / The Hindu assam floods

A woman ferries her dog to safety on a banana raft in Kamrup district on June 20.

Assam, Morigaon: 26/06/2022: Villagers crossing a flooded road in the flood affected Morigaon district of Assam on Sunday, 26 June 2022. Though the flood situation has slightly improved, situation is still critical in most of the flood affected areas of Assam. Photo: RITU RAJ KONWAR / The Hindu assam floods

The greater one-horned rhinoceros grazing in floodwaters in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district on June 3.

Using a makeshift bamboo bridge to fetch water at a village in Nagaon district on June 18.

Villagers arrive by boat to join the queue for medicines at the Khandahkhaity Char public health centre in Morigaon district on June 22.

Bajali: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel shift their belongings to a safer place after their camp got submerged following heavy rainfall, at Patacharkuchi in Bajali district, Friday, June 17, 2022. (PTI Photo)(PTI06_17_2022_000132B) assam floods

1 / 0

Lunch on the boat on College Road, Silchar, on June 30. Through the last week of June, this boy and his father transported people across the flooded streets of Silchar town.