Ashwini Kumar Shukla

large_01-Rupali_Pegu_3-AKS-Surviving_a_flood_of_problems_in_Assam.jpg

medium_01-Rupali_Pegu_3-AKS-Surviving_a_flood_of_problems_in_Assam.jpg

small_01-Rupali_Pegu_3-AKS-Surviving_a_flood_of_problems_in_Assam.jpg

thumbnail_01-Rupali_Pegu_3-AKS-Surviving_a_flood_of_problems_in_Assam.jpg

01-Rupali_Pegu_3-AKS-Surviving_a_flood_of_problems_in_Assam.jpg

From the window of her home, as far as the eye can see, there is water – this year’s floods have not receded. Rupali Pegu lives just a kilometre from the Subansiri river – an important tributary of the Brahmaputra that annually floods vast tracts of land in Assam.Water may be all around, but ironically, finding potable water is a challenge, she says. In her village, Bordubi Maluwal in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, drinking water is contaminated. “Most hand pumps in our village and the neighbouring ones are submerged,” Rupali explains. To fetch water from the hand pump near the road, she relies on a canoe. Armed with three large steel water containers, Rupali rows towards the road, also partially submerged.  She uses a long bamboo stick to carefully navigate through the flooded village. “Moni, come along!” she calls out to her neighbour, who often joins her on these trips. The friends help each other fill the containers.

At the handpump, after a few minutes of pumping, clean water finally starts flowing. “It hasn&#39;t rained for three days, so we managed to get water,” Rupali says with a faint smile of relief. Fetching water is seen to be women’s labour, and as the river rises, it is women who bear the added burden.When the hand pump disappoints, “we boil and drink this,” says 36-year-old Rupali, pointing to the stagnant, muddy waters swirling around her house. Rupali’s bamboo house, like many others in this region, is specially designed to withstand the floods. Locally known as chang ghar – these houses are elevated on bamboo stilts to avoid flooding. Rupali’s ducks have made her porch their home, and their quacking fills the silence.  The canoe is also Rupali’s carrier when she needs to relieve herself. Her home once had a washroom, but it is now submerged. “We have to go far, towards the river,” she says. Rupali makes that journey in the dark.

Not just daily lives, but livelihoods of the largely Mising community who live here, are also impacted. “We had 12 bighas of land where we cultivated rice. But this year, all our crops are submerged and we’ve lost everything,” says Rupali. A part of her land has already been swallowed by the river. “We will only know after the flood how much land the river has taken this year,” she says.Agriculture is the traditional occupation of Mising people (listed as Scheduled Tribe in the state). Unable to farm, many are forced to migrate in search of livelihoods. According to this <a href="https://sita.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/sita_medhassu_in_oid_4/portlet/level_1/files/study_report_on_floods_and_impacts_on_livelihood_in_rural_assam.pdf">study</a> in 2020, the out-migration in Lakhimpur is 29 per cent, more than three times the national average. Rupali’s husband Manus has gone to Hyderabad to work as a watchman, leaving Rupali in-charge of the home and their two children – a son and a daughter. Manus earns Rs. 15,000 a month and sends home Rs.8,000-10,000. Rupali says that for six months in the year when their homes are on flooded ground, finding work is tough. “Last year we received some help from the government – polythene sheets, ration. But nothing this year. If we had money, we would have left,” she adds, with a note of sadness.

Surviving a flood of problems in Assam

آسام: مشکلوں کے سیلاب کا سامنا

సమస్యల వరదను తట్టుకొని...

அஸ்ஸாமில் நேரும் வெள்ளத்தில் பிழைத்திருத்தல்!

ਅਸਾਮ: ਹੜ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਲ਼ ਜਿਊਂਦਿਆਂ

ଆସାମରେ ବନ୍ୟା ସମସ୍ୟା ସହ ଜୀବନ ଜୀଇଁବା

അസമിൽ, പ്രശ്നങ്ങളുടെ മലവെള്ളപ്പാച്ചിൽ

ಅಸ್ಸಾಮ್: ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳ ಪ್ರವಾಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕು

असम: मुश्किलों की बाढ़ में नाउम्मीदी की पतवार

આસામમાં સમસ્યાઓના પૂરમાંથી બચવું શી રીતે?

पुर मं बूड़े जिनगी

जिनगी के नइया फंसल मझधार

হাজার সমস্যায় বানভাসি অসমবাসী

এসোপা সমস্যাৰ ধল ফালি ৰূপালী আগবাঢ়ি যায়

Subansiri (Pt-I), Lakhimpur, Assam, 787053, India

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

Surviving a flood of problems in Assam

The annual flooding of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries throws up many challenges for people living in flood-affected areas. The lack of potable water and the challenges of sustaining agriculture in fields submerged annually are some of the daily stresses

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit