India: the Brahmaputra river gets out of control under the effect of the climate
Audio 02:30
The Brahmaputra originates in the Tibetan mountains before traveling through northeast India.
(Illustrative photo) © AFP - -
By: Côme Bastin Follow
4 min
In India, the Brahmaputra River is spiraling out of control as a result of climate change.
Each year, the inhabitants of the valley face monster floods that devastate villages and crops.
A phenomenon amplified by the concreteization of the Himalayas and which now threatens millions of peasants.
Report from the State of Assam.
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From our special envoy to the State of Assam,
Like some 600,000 inhabitants, Anjuma and her family are victims of the monster floods that hit this state after a week of intense rains.
At the beginning of September, some 1,200 villages would be under the water of the Brahmaputra.
“
During the confinement, we were unable to work.
Now it is our rice crop that is in danger.
Our cows and goats were washed away.
I don't know how we're going to get out of this.
"
Probin Pegu, 26, takes us into a boat to see his sunken fields.
“
Look at this water as far as the eye can see,” he
says.
Everything is over this year.
We always plant around the end of August, because the big floods are normally over.
What are we gonna do
?
"
This situation has become the norm in the Brahmaputra basin, explains Dadu Dutta, coordinator for the NGO NEADS:
The problem is not so much the floods as the fact that they are now irregular and sudden. It is directly linked to climate change. Another major problem is soil erosion. Arable land is eaten away during each flood. The shore that you can see here has retreated about ten meters since 2020.
Expert in cross-border conflicts, Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman considers that it is also the overflow of human interventions on the river that explains the disaster.
To protect the big cities, the refineries and the tea plantations, we built urgently dikes. Today, this is exacerbating the flooding. In addition, China claims the sovereignty of the state of Arunachal Pradesh. India wants to mark its territory there with giant infrastructures such as dams. This industrial race between India and China is destroying the hydrological and ecological cycle of the region.
In addition to climate change, the great river is paying the price for this geopolitical rivalry and an overly technical approach to the region's ecology.
The people of Assam are helpless victims.
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