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between the foothills of the Himalayas to the severely from fl oods that are caused by the
north, and the Khasi and Garo Hills to the south. mighty Brahmaputra.
Assam experiences monsoons from the fi rst
Cause of Floods in Assam
week of June, which then withdraws by the
Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries
second week of October. Cherrapunji and
overfl ow during the monsoon season thus
Mawsynram are the two Indian regions that
causing floods in Assam. Th ere are also some
receive the heaviest rainfall in the world.
other reasons behind this annual occurrence
Th ese places are located just to the south of
which are listed below.
the Brahmaputra Valley. Th e south-west
• Assam has an average rainfall of
monsoon of India is responsible for causing
2,800 millimetres per year. States like
the bulk of the rainfall. Th is rainfall totals to
Odisha (1,400 millimetres), Gujarat (800
about 65 per cent of the annual rainfall that is
millimetres), Bihar (1,200 millimetres)
experienced by Assam.
receive lesser rainfall as compared to
Assam. Th is heavy rainfall also leads to the
issue of a bottleneck, where the amount of
water received is more than the amount
the region’s water bodies can disperse.
• On 15th August 1950, an earthquake hit
Assam. Th is earthquake was registered as
8.6 on the Richter Scale and it changed
the topography of many places in Tibet
and north-eastern India. Before the
earthquake Assam faced fl oods but not
Cherrapunji, East Khasi Hills of the magnitude it faces now. Aft er this
earthquake, the streams started to rise
Assam is one of the worst fl ood aff ected higher and the courses of some tributaries
areas. Th is is due to the Brahmaputra and its changed.
tributaries. Th e districts at the upper reaches • Deforestation is also one of the major
of the river Brahmaputra such as Dibrugarh, reasons behind floods. Deforestation
Sivasagar, Jorhat, North Lakhimpur, leads to soil erosion which in turn swells
Golaghat and the river Island Majuli suff er up the rivers. Harmful human activities
have accelerated land use, fi lling up the
low lying areas with buildings and reckless
urban development, giving rise to more
vulnerable habitations in Assam.
Bihar
Bihar is also one of the most disaster-prone states
of the country. Floods, droughts, earthquakes,
heat/cold waves, river erosions, fi re incidences
and other such disasters are the various forms
Majuli Island under water of disasters prevalent in the state.
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