Here’s How Assam Floods Affects Kaziranga National Park
In Assam, the Brahmaputra river is flowing at dangerous levels, with the India Meteorological Department forecasting more rain in coming days. Around 85 peoplehavedied in the state in flood-related incidents so far, and more than 33 lakh people across 30 districts of the state have directly been affected by the flood. According to media reports, currently, about 85% of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is submerged. A total of 125 animals in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve have been safely rescued from this catastrophic flood in Assam, while a total of 86 animals have died during this period, including rhinoceros, reindeer and wild boar etc. However, many experts consider the annual floods in Assam to be necessary for the existence of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Assam flood is a big problem for Kaziranga
According to officials who had earlier worked in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, a big flood would come once in ten years, whereas now such floods have become a common occurrence every 2 years, causing widespread damage to the region. Coupled with that, massive deforestation in catchment areas or release of waters by dams upstream are also contributory factors. Climate change models, too, predict that floods will become increasingly devastating with each year. Except for the year 2018, all the floods between 2016 and 2020 were destructive and terrible in nature. However, in the last few years, the number of animal deaths has decreased due to careful monitoring.
Why does Assam get flooded every year?
The topography of Assam and meteorological factors (high rainfall) are the obvious reason behind Assam floods every year. Following are the reasons responsible for flood in the state:
- Assam and some other parts of the north-eastern region experiences frequent earthquakes, which causes landslides because of which it sends a lot of debris in the rivers, causing the river bed to rise.
- Assam faces bank erosion around the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers. It is believed that annually nearly 8000 hectares of land is lost to erosion. Due to erosion, the width of the Brahmaputra river has increased up to 15 km.
- Unregulated release of water from the dams, floods the Assam plains, leaving thousands of people homeless every year.
- The Brahmaputra basin receives 248 cm to 635 cm more rainfall than normal every year. It receives more than 40 mm of rainfall every hour during the monsoon season.
Interesting information about Kaziranga National Park
Covering an approximate area of 430 square kilometres of central Assam, Kaziranga was declared a national park in the year 1905. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique natural environment in the year of 1985. Apart from this, the park has been identified as an important bird area by Birdlife International Society as it is home to various species of migrating and inhabitant birds. Many guest birds also come here from Siberia in winter.