Guwahati: Natural disasters like landslides and soil erosion frequently occur in the Northeastern region and Assam. The public has been suffering immensely because of flash floods every year, but there has been no permanent solution to it so far.
The Geological and Survey of India's research have revealed that because of changes in the climatic conditions, there has been an increase in such natural calamities.
Frequent changes in the climatic conditions in recent times have greatly changed the course of flow of many rivers. As a result, the impact of soil erosion is increasing on a daily basis.
For instance, apart from the erosion caused by the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh destroying hundreds of hectares of agricultural land, landslides occurring in the hills has caused much damage and destruction to a large number of people.
During the current year landslides in Arunachal Pradesh claimed 10 lives and two persons died on the spot because of floods.
According to data provided by the National Flood, prior to three years about 31.05 lakh hectares to 78.523 lakh hectares of land in Assam was destroyed in the floods.
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However, 39.58 per cent of the total land area of the state has been found to be affected by the floods at present. Due to inaction on the part of the state government 20 villages in Lohitmukh in Gohpur have been destroyed completely in erosion caused by the waters of the Brahmaputra.
The homes and compounds of many people have sunk in the heart of the Brahmaputra. Agricultural land has been silted by sand carried by the floodwaters.
The problem of climate change is aggravating across the globe with every passing day, because of which natural calamities like floods, landslides and soil erosion are increasing.
The change in climatic conditions of the world depends greatly on the rain forests of Amazons, but due to the immense destruction caused to these rain forests is now giving way to frequent change in the climate. Its impact can be seen in the agricultural sector of the Northeastern region, leading to lower cultivation of crops during the past six decades
Moreover, 4.27 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been destroyed by erosion. About 6,080 kilometres of land has been found to be affected by erosion. The embankments constructed by the state government spending crores have also failed to save the landed area of the state.
It is pertinent to be mentioned here that just as the occurrence of landslides can be predicted and prevented in developed countries, in a similar manner the has collected data regarding landslides and climate change in India and Europe through research named 'Landslip'. It remains to be seen if the government succeeds in finding a permanent solution to these natural calamities with the aid of GSI.
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