Assam Has 15 Of The Country's 25 Districts Most Vulnerable To Climate Change

GUWAHATI: Of 25 districts in the country most vulnerable to climate change, fifteen were in Assam, state Science, Technology and Climate Change Minister Keshab Mahanta told the Assam Assembly on Friday.

Of these 15 districts, Karimganj was the most vulnerable in the country, Mahanta said while replying to a question by BJP legislator Mrinal Saikia.

Karimganj is one of the three districts that comprise southern Assam's Barak Valley. The other two districts, Cachar and Hailakandi, were almost as vulnerable, Mr. Mahanta said.

Assam experienced exponential increase in flood events since 2010, Minister Keshab Mahanta informed the 126-member state Assembly.

Cachar district, especially Silchar, the district's headquarters, experienced the worst flood in decades in July, with almost 95% of the town going under water.

The other districts of Assam, in Brahmaputra valley, vulnerable to climate change were Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Kokrajhar, Morigaon, Sivasagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia.

Mahanta cited a 2021 report by the Council of Energy, Environment and Water, while saying that Assam had the highest overall vulnerability index in the country causing drastic change in the rainfall intensity.

"Golaghat district, through which the Doyang River flows to join the Brahmaputra, has not witnessed a normal monsoon in the last 30 years," he said.

"There is an exponential increase in the frequency of flood events since 2010. Last year, more than 1.4 million people were displaced by flooding along the Brahmaputra in 18 of 33 districts of Assam," Mr. Mahanta said.

Assam has witnessed four waves of floods this year, with the monsoon hitting the state early.

The Minister also cited an Assam State Climate Change Action Plan report that had projected an increase in the mean average temperature by 1.7-2.2˚C by "mid-century with respect to the duration between 1971 and 2000".

According to the report, extreme rainfall events were likely to increase by 5-38% and floods by more than 25% by the mid-century.

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