Assam

Slow disaster: Political ecology of hazards and everyday life in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam
This book by Dr. Mitul Baruah presents a fascinating, ethnographic account of the challenges faced by communities living in Majuli, India, one of the largest river islands in the world, which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformations over the years, processes that are emblematic of the Brahmaputra Valley as a whole. This is an excerpt from the book. Posted on 30 Oct, 2022 07:19 PM

The accumulation of capital and misery go hand in hand, concentrated in space.

― David Harvey, The Limits to Capital, 2006 [1982]: 418

Floods are recurrent phenomena in Assam (Image: Mitul Baruah)
UN's Human Development Report calls for a shift in direction
New this fortnight Posted on 15 Sep, 2022 02:17 PM

Global Human Development Index declines for two years in a row: UN Report

India ranks 132 in latest Human Development Report (Image source: IWP Flickr albums)
Floods – a boon than a bane!
Floods are not feared, but rather welcomed by the Mishing communities from Majuli island in Assam as they bring bountiful fish- a rich source of food, nutrition and livelihood for the community. Posted on 21 Aug, 2022 11:15 PM

Floods are often perceived as a destructive force in Assam and other parts of India.

The Majuli island, a haven for fish (Image Source: Usha Dewani, India Water Portal)
Heavy metal contamination in the sediments of the Brahmaputra river
Study indicates an intermediate silicate weathering in the adjoining area Posted on 16 Aug, 2022 10:11 AM

The river Brahmaputra carries around 73 million tons of dissolved material annually, which accounts for approximately 4% of the total dissolved flux into the oceans (Singh et al., 2005). The dissolved chemical load and sediment flux of the Brahmaputra River has significantly higher rates of physical and chemical weathering than other large Himalayan catchments.

(Image: Rita Willaert, Flickr Commons)
Transitioning from risk to resilience with SDG localisation
There is a need to boost transformative adaptation action and resilience building measures Posted on 25 Jul, 2022 11:52 PM

Floods are a recurring phenomenon in Bangladesh and the adjoining state of Assam, India. The ongoing large-scale flooding here is not an exception. Floods often trigger landslides and large-scale river-bank erosion.

ESCAP is supporting monitoring and implementation of climate and disaster-related Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Image: Fazlul Alam, Pixahive)
Assam: Technology used to map historical ponds of Darrang
The ponds are home to birds, reptiles and amphibians; study looks at their ecological relevance Posted on 27 Jan, 2022 10:54 PM

Smaller water bodies, such as ponds, are important not only for biodiversity (Oertli, Céréghino, Hull, & Miracle, 2009) but al

Lakhimpur pond (Image: Authors)
Climate change: A look through a gender lens
Women are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Posted on 06 Jan, 2021 02:51 PM

Climate change vulnerability is a multi-layered and multi-faceted phenomenon. “It’s a justice issue determined by both biophysical and socio-economic factors.

The gendered vulnerabilities due to climate change need to be well-recognized. (Image: Justin Kernoghan, Trocaire, Wikimedia Commons)
Think, before you have your cup of tea!
Women workers from tea plantations in India are overworked and underpaid. Voiceless, without any rights at the workplace, and their health compromised, they continue to suffer in silence. Posted on 19 Aug, 2020 06:58 PM

India is the second largest tea producer in the world, with production at 1.2 million metric tons

Women workers at a tea plantation in Assam (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Groundwater extraction: NGT gets strict with commercial entities
Policy matters this week Posted on 12 Aug, 2020 08:41 AM

NGT bans granting general permissions for groundwater extraction to commercial entities

NGT gets strict with commercial entities (Source: IWP Flickr album)
Interspecies love in a flood-ravaged Assam village
Systems of co-existence can help in mitigating the human-elephant conflict in the region. Posted on 08 Aug, 2020 03:51 PM

Salmora in Majuli river island in Assam is not any ordinary village. Located on the southeastern corner of the island, surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra on three sides, this village is remarkable in many ways.

Potters' families belonging to Kumar community of the village make earthen pots (Image: Mitul Baruah)
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