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Brahmaputra and the Socio-Economic Life of People of Assam
Authors
Dr. Purusottam Nayak
Professor of Economics
North-Eastern Hill University
Shillong, Meghalaya, PIN – 793 022
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91-9436111308
&
Dr. Bhagirathi Panda
Professor of Economics
North-Eastern Hill University
Shillong, Meghalaya, PIN – 793 022
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91-9436117613
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and the Need for the Study
1.1 Objectives of the Study
1.2 Methodology and Data Sources
2. Assam and Its Economy
2.1 Socio-Demographic Features
2.2 Economic Features
3. The River Brahmaputra
4. Literature Review
5. Findings Based on Secondary Data
5.1 Positive Impact on Livelihood
5.2 Positive Impact on Infrastructure
5.2.1 Water Transport
5.2.2 Power
5.3 Tourism
5.4 Fishery
5.5 Negative Impact on Livelihood and Infrastructure
5.6 The Economy of Char Areas
5.6.1 Demographic Profile of Char Areas
5.6.2 Vicious Circle of Poverty in Char Areas
6. Micro Situation through Case Studies of Regions and Individuals
6.1 Majuli
6.1.1 A Case Study of Majuli River Island
6.1.2 Individual Case Studies in Majuli
6.1.3 Lessons from the Cases from Majuli
6.1.4 Economics of Ferry Business in Majuli Ghats
6.2 Dhubri
6.2.1 A Case Study of Dhubri
6.2.2 Individual Case Studies in Dhubri
6.2.3 Lessons from the Cases in Dhubri
6.3 Guwahati
6.3.1 A Case of Rani Chapari Island
6.3.2 Individual Case Study in Bhattapara
7. Baseline Survey
7.1 Brahmaputra and the Impact on Community
7.2 Brahmaputra and its Impact on Households
7.3 Important Findings
7.3.1 Findings from Secondary Sources
7.3.2 Findings from Case Studies and Primary Survey
8. Concluding Remarks
9. Specific Suggestions
References
TABLES
LIST OF TABLES
1. Socio-Demographic Profile of Assam, 2011 and 2001
2. Trend and Sectoral Contribution of GSDP of Assam at Constant (2004-05) Prices
3. Changing Pattern of Land Use for Adaptation of Flood in Assam
4. Brahmaputra, its Tributaries and Use of their Surface Water
5. Use of Brahmaputra and its Tributaries by Major Industries
6. Ports and Ferry Ghats in Different Districts in Assam
7. No. of Fleets and Workers in Inland Water Transport in Assam
8. Cargo and Transportation of Passengers and Cars in Assam
9. Small Hydro Schemes in Northeast Region
10. Major Tourism Hot Spots along the Bank of River Brahmaputra
11. Number of Tourists to Assam and Revenue Earned
12. Fishery Resources in Assam, 2014-15
13. No. of Beels and Water Area under Beels in Assam
14. Trend of Fish Seed and Fish Production in Assam
15. Fish and Fish Seed (Fry) Production during the Year 2014-15
16. Annual Average Flood Damages in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam
17. Selected Statistics of the Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (I)
18. Selected Statistics of the Char Areas in Assam, 1992-93
19. Selected Statistics of Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (II)
20. Selected Statistics of Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (III)
21. Annual Average Rate of River Bank Erosion
22. Changing Pattern of Occupation of Workers
23. A Conservative Model of An Average Daily Economy in the River Bank at Dhubri
24. Basic Profile of Surveyed Villages
25. Economic Activity Profile of Surveyed Villages centred on Brahmaputra
26. Land Owned and Land Lost by Households
27. Source wise Annual Income of Households (₹)
28. Source wise Percentage of Households Benefitting from River
29. Source wise Damages of Households (₹)
30. Average Standard of Living of A Household and Liability (₹)
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Socio-Demographic Indicators of Assam
2. Change of Sectoral Composition of GSDP in Assam
3. Growth Rate of GSDP at Factor Cost at Constant (2004-05) Prices
4. Concentration of Ports and Ferry Ghats in Assam
5. Types of Vessel Used
6. Employee Type in Inland Water Transport
7. Small Hydro Schemes in Northeast Region
8. Trend of Fish Seed Production
9. Trend of Fish Production
10. Affected Nos. of Population due to Floods in Brahmaputra
11. Flood Damages in Assam
12. Concentration of Char Areas in Different Districts in Assam
13. Incidence of Literacy and Poverty
14. River Bank Erosion in Majuli Island
15. Some Satras in Majuli Island
16. Case Study I
17. Case Study II
18. Case Study III
19. Case Study IV
20. Case Study V
21. Cultivation of Crops and Vegetables in Rani Chapari Island
22. Case Study VI
23. Activity Profile of Surveyed Villages centred on Brahmaputra
24. Land Owned and Land Lost by Average Household
25. Source wise Annual Income of Household
26. Source wise Percentage of Households Benefitting from Brahmaputra
27. Source wise Damages of Households
Brahmaputra and the Socio-Economic Life of People of Assam
1. Introduction and the Need for the Study
Assam for ages together has been a riverine civilization, society and economy. Even today
largely it continues so, albeit, recent changes in its social and economic structures. The
foundation and Centre of this riverine society and economy has been and continues to be the
mighty river of ‘Brahmaputra’. This river with a network of 33 tributaries has influenced and
continues to influence the social and economic life of Assam and its people in a matrix of
layered inter-relationships. A simple economy basically has three important components i.e.,
livelihood (production, consumption, exchange and employment), infrastructure and
institutions. All these three important components and their temporal and spatial interactions
make an economy live and continuous. If Brahmaputra was considered and is being
considered to be the life line of Assam and more so in its economic dimension, it is because it
has predominantly been influencing and shaping the livelihood, infrastructural and
institutional arrangements of Assamese society.
However, post 1950 earthquake, this river and its major tributaries have undergone severe
physical changes such as increases in the height of the riverbeds. Population of Assam has
undergone a steep increase because of natural increment in native population and illegal
migration from neighboring country. This has caused the density of population to increase to
398 per sq. km. as per 2011 census. This increase in density of population, the phenomenal
depletion of forest and vegetation cover on the river banks, the capturing of the wet land by
the incremental and marginal population, the incremental pollution of the environment etc.
have all brought in unexpected negative developments affecting the course, nature and
intensity of flow, magnitude of erosion etc. of this mighty river and its tributaries. Further,
this expansive river, flows through three countries of Chinese Tibet, India and Bangladesh. In
its Tsangpo form in Tibet, it traverses a distance of 1625 km and constitutes the upstream of
the river. Of late, the Chinese Government is believed to have started building huge dams
controlling the flow of the river. Few big dams are in the process of coming up in the up
streams of the river in the province of Arunachal Pradesh. All these developments have
serious present and potential negative effects on the geography, society and economy of
Assam in the form of increased river bank erosion, unnatural high floods leading to
inundation of fresh areas, saltation of cultivated land, huge loss to human and animal lives,
damage to physical infrastructure and loss of livelihood to millions etc. They do have extant
and potential negative impacts on the livelihood, infrastructural and institutional
arrangements in the Assamese society and therefore put a question mark on the ‘life-line’
status of the great river. It is against this background, our present study attempts to analyze
the current situation of various influences of this river on the socioeconomic life of the people
and communities in Assam. In a sense, it is an examination of the contemporary ‘life line’
status of this networked river for the people and communities of Assam.
1.1 Objectives of the Study
The primary objective of this study is to understand the nature and dynamics of the impact of
the river Brahmaputra on the socioeconomic life of the people of Assam. However, the
specific objectives are outlined below:
1. To make a review of literature on the overall economy of Assam;
2. To examine the contribution of River Brahmaputra to the growth of the economy of
Assam taking different sectors of her economy into account using available secondary
data;
3. To analyse the impact of the River Brahmaputra on the economy of Assam on the
basis of literature. The main areas on which these impacts to be examined are(a)
agriculture and allied sectors, (b) tourism, (c) transportation of goods, (d) movement
of people;
4. To study the impact of river Brahmaputra on socioeconomic life of the people living
on its bank and surrounding areas through field surveys and case studies.
5. To examine socioeconomic status of the people living in char areas around river
Brahmaputra.
1.2 Methodology and Data Sources
The study has been undertaken by means of collecting both primary and secondary data.
Secondary data have been collected from Government publications, Directoratesof Govt. of
Assam and their websites such as Economic Survey 2014-15 of Government of Assam,
Statistical Handbook Assam 2014, Department of Fishery, Govt. of Assam, Directorate of
Inland Transport, Assam,Water Resources Department, Planning and Development
Department, Govt. of Assam, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited, and Central
Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India.Data have also
been collected and analyzed in terms of literature survey based on the works of a number of
authors who have been duly acknowledged in the reference section of this report. Primary
data have been collected through, (i) case studies by adopting the method of unstructured
interaction and observation, (ii) by structured questionnaire administered to sample
households. These households were selected through a process of mix of random and
purposive sampling. Details about the sampling design have been presented in the following
paragraph:
We had undertaken primary survey in three different villages, namely, Motishwar, Bhattapara
and Myjan Natun Gaon to understand from close angles the sway of river Brahmaputra on the
socioeconomic lives of people living in different parts of Assam. These villages were
selected from three distinct but important geographical regions along the trajectory of the
river Brahmaputra. The first village Motishwar was chosen from the district of Dhubri on the
outskirts of Dhubri town. Situated on the banks of Brahmaputra, this village is from lower
Assam. The second village Bhattapara was selected from Kamrup Metro district near the city
of Guwahati. This village too situated on the banks of Brahmaputra represents Central
Assam. The third village Myjan Natun Gaon was chosen from the district of near the city of
Dibrugarh. It represents Upper Assam. We conducted a sample survey of 45 households
(HH) taking 15 households from each of these three villages the details of which are given in
the following chart:
2. Assam and Its Economy
2.1 Socio-Demographic Features
Situated in the north eastern part of the country, Assam is the largest state among the eight
states of north east India. It is considered the gate way to India’s north east too. This
historical state has its unique history, geography, culture and economy and has always been
considered a bridge between India and its north eastern states. It has beautiful fertile plain
lands, splendid hills and valleys, distinctive tea gardens, the equally benevolent and awesome
Brahmaputra River. Its geographical area and population respectively constitute 2.4 and 2.58
percent of the total geographical area and population of the country as a whole. As per 2011
Census of India, its total population is about 31,205,576 with a density of 398, sex ratio of
958, literacy rate of 72.19 percent and urbanisation rate of 14.08 (Table 1). When compared
with the year 2001, the total population has increased by 4550048, density of population by
58, sex ratio by 23, literacy rate by 8.94 percentage points, and urbanisation by 1.18
percentage points (Fig.1). All these socio-demographic characteristics suggest that the state
is on move on many of the important dimensions of human development. However, in some
of the sub-dimensions of development such as literacy rate, urbanisation, the state still lags
the country’s average.
Fig. 1: Socio-Demographic Indicators of Assam
Source: Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15
2.2. Economic Features
An important feature of economic development of any economy is the structural changes that
happen in its income and employment space. Assam’s economic growth which was sluggish
during the eighties and nineties started gradually picking up post 2000 and has shown
remarkable improvement during the period 2004-05 to 2013-14. For the first time post 1950s,
the state's NSDP and per capita NSDP growth rates have been above the national growth rate
for two consecutive years i.e., 2012-13 and 2013-14 (Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15).
While the growth rate in NSDP in 2013-14 over 2012-13 was 15.9 per cent, the growth rate
of per capita NSDP was 14.5 per cent. The corresponding national growth rates were 11.1 per
cent in per capita NSDP and 9.6 per cent in NSDP. The sectoral composition of economic
growth of Assam shows a continuous fall in the share of Agriculture and Allied sectors and a
constant rise in the share of the services sector. During 2004-05, the contribution of
Agriculture and Allied sectors to the GSDP was 26 per cent, which reduced to 23 per cent in
2013-14. Simultaneously, the contribution of the Services sector has increased from 47 per
cent in 2004-05 to 55 per cent in 2013-14. The industrial sector too has experienced a fall
during this period (Fig. 2 & Table 2).
Fig. 2: Change of Sectoral Composition of GSDP in Assam
Source: Authors’ computation based on data of Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15, Govt. of Assam.
However amidst this reasonable high growth rate of its NSDP and the contribution of the
services sector, one thing that has been a constant worrying factor is the erratic growth rate of
its agriculture and allied sector (Fig.3). From 2008-09 to 2013-14, agriculture sector’s growth
rate has continuously been below the growth of the rest of the two sectors i.e. industry and
services sector except in 2010-11 when industry’s growth was marginally lower than
agriculture and allied sector’s growth. As evident, the economy of Assam is predominantly
agrarian. Agriculture and allied activities play an important role in the socioeconomic
development of the people in the state. About 61 per cent of her population is engaged in
agricultural activities (Economic Survey, 2014-15) and agriculture continues to support more
than 75 per cent population of the state. It is against this backdrop, the feeble and erratic
growth rate in Agriculture and Allied sectors is a matter of concern and much of this
happening is attributed to the frequent floods and river bank erosions caused by the River
Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
Fig. 3: Growth Rate of GSDP at Factor Cost at Constant (2004-05) Prices
Source: Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15.
3. The River Brahmaputra
The River Brahmaputra is one of the mightiest rivers in the world. Its water rise more than
5000 meters up the Tibetan Plateau and flow for about 3000 km through China, India and
Bangladesh before joining the Ganges and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The River has
originated from the Angsi Glacier on the northern side of Himalayas which is popularly
known as Tsangpo in its upper course and by Chinese name as ‘Yarlung Zangbo’. Both from
left and right sides many tributaries have joined Tsangpo to flow down to India. The
Brahmaputra has entered India through the state of Arunachal Pradesh where it has been
called as Siang. As it goes down from the hills to the plain areas it has changed its name to
Dihang. In Assam two tributaries such as Dibang River and Lohit River have joined
Brahmaputra one after another and converted Brahmaputra into a very wide river. At certain
places it is as wide as 10 kms. Brahmaputra flows down in Assam from east to west over a
length of approximately 650 km. As the River passes through the valley of Assam many
Himalayan streams including Subansiri, Kameng, Bhareli, Dhansiri, Manas, Champamati,
Saralbhanga, and Sankosh rivers have joined Brahmaputra and made it too mighty. The main
tributaries from the hills and the plateau to the south are the BurhiDihing, Disang, Dikhu and
Kopili. The River has been divided into two channels between Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur
districts. In the northern side it is known as Kherkutia and in its south it is known as
Brahmaputra channel. After going down about 100 km these two channels have joined
together to create the Majuli Islands which is the largest river islands in the world. Then the
River passes through Meghalaya to finally merge with Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh. In
the course of its journey, the Brahmaputra receives as many as 22 major tributaries in Tibet,
33 in India and 3 in Bangladesh. With an average annual discharge of 19,830 cubic metres
per second at its mouth, the Brahmaputra ranks fourth among the large rivers of the world.
Goswami (2014) in his article has presented a plethora of information on Brahmaputra. The
author has dealt with different dimensions pertaining to the river such as its properties, about
the people inhabiting its basin, the economic potential of the river, its potential as an
important waterway and with much other information. According to him the River has a
580,000 sq. km basin spread over four neighbouring countries such as China (50.5%), India
(33.6%), Bangladesh (8.1%) and Bhutan (7.8%). The Indian part of the basin is shared by
Arunachal Pradesh (41.9 %), Assam (36.3%), Meghalaya (6.1%), Nagaland (5.6%), Sikkim
(3.8%) and West Bengal (6.3%). Annual average rainfall in the basin excluding Tibetan
portion is of 230 cm. Due to strong earth quake in 1897 and 1950 of Richter magnitude 8.7,
the course of river changed. Particularly the earthquake of 1950 raised the bed level of the
river at Dibrugarh by at least three metres leading to increased flood and erosion potential of
the river. In the aftermath of the Great Earthquake of 1950, the damage potential, intensity
and frequency of floods have increased significantly. Assam has experienced major floods in
the years 1954, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004, 2007,
and in 2008 with a reduction in area from 1246 sq. km in 1950 to 875 sq. km in 1998.
The River is lifeline to millions of people. Not only it delivers vital nutrients to the plains of
Assam but also causes widespread misery to the people. It has earned notoriety for the
awesome hazards of annual flood and erosion that create mayhem every year, bringing
misery to the people and shattering the fragile agro-economic base of the region. When the
water cascades down from the mountain to the soft alluvial soil of Assam it damages banks of
the River. As a result thousands of acres of cultivable lands are lost. Besides it deposits tons
of sands on nearby cultivable lands making it less fertile or unusable by the farmers. Due to
this many farmers have become landless and have been forced to migrate to different parts of
the country in search of alternative source of livelihood. It has been experienced that flood
occurs almost every year in one or other part of the lower Brahmaputra river basin in Assam
with varying frequency and magnitude. This occurs particularly in the monsoon season from
the month of June up to October. Due to frequent flood of violent nature many houses,
properties and community infrastructure are damaged on regular basis and there is loss of
human life and cattle.
4. Literature Review
A number of studies have been conducted to assess vulnerability and adaptation measures in
the lower Brahmaputra basin for extreme flood events (IPCC, 2007; UNEP, 1996, United
State Country Study Programme, 1999 and Younus, 2010). The work of Singh et al. (2014) is
based on construction of a matrix of weighted indices using data from a survey of 150
households spread over six different places on the banks of Brahmaputra in Assam such as
Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Guawahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat. They highlighted 26 issues as
high vulnerability, 12 issues as medium vulnerability and 2 issues as low vulnerability.
Adaptation assessment result showed 15 issues requiring urgent attention. The paper
suggested various mitigation processes for the challenges faced by the people such as
construction of embankments, and dams, construction of building on elevated area, flood
plain zoning, and forecasting flood, etc. While analysing vulnerability they also presented a
table showing how people adapted to flood by changing their land use pattern in some of the
important districts in Assam during the period from 1950-51 to 2010-11 (Table 3).
Baruah and Goswami (2013) in their work have given an account of extent of river bank
erosion in Assam and various reasons of its occurrence. According to them the Water
Resources Department, Govt. of Assam has identified as many as 25 acute erosion affected
reaches within the main stem river Brahmaputra in Assam. Since the last 100 years, the
Brahmaputra shows a general trend of widening in the state. As a consequence, it has
destroyed more and more of land and infrastructure including the old established system of
flood embankments. The erosion rate is three times higher than the deposition over a period
of 15 years. In addition, some long-term observations about width changes of the
Brahmaputra are though available from different authors but are not comparable.
Brahmaputra occupied around 4,000 km² in the 1920s and expanded to around 5,000 km² by
the early 1970s. A major avulsion upstream of Dibrugarh added many hundred additional
square kilometres to the area within the river banks during the 1990s. In the first decade of
twenty first Century the Brahmaputra occupied about 6,000 km² (Govt. of Assam, 2008). The
flood and erosion management measures started in Assam after the declaration of National
Flood policy in 1954. Accordingly, a huge network of flood embankments were erected all
over the state of Assam in the main stem river Brahmaputra, Barak and its tributaries as
immediate and short-term measures under the "food for work" programme. Under this
programme total lengths covered increased from 211 km in 1954 to 4465.19 km in 2006.
These measures included anti erosion and river training works that mostly comprise of bank
revetments, construction of stone spurs, boulder deflectors, timber dampeners, pile screens,
R.C.C. porcupines, leet fencing and other pro-siltation devices. In addition, the Water
Resource Department also constructed 86 numbers of major sluices, 539 numbers of medium
and minor sluices and about 855 km of drainage channels to provide adequate country side
drainage and dewatering facilities. The emergency situations arising in flood seasons were
mostly taken care of by some temporary measures like providing dowel bund with empty
cement bags, back filling with bamboo support, A-type spurs, bamboo porcupines, breach
closing works, bamboo cribs etc. All the above measures provided reasonable protection to
about 16.50 lakh hectares of area which was almost 50 % of the total flood prone area of the
state as assessed by the National Flood Commission (Rashtriya Barh Ayog), Govt. of India.
In last few decades, it has extensively used chiselled and blasted boulder as one of the chief
material for anti-erosion and river training works. Although, it is not very cost effective,
material has been found to be very effective in these works.
The work of Das (2013) highlights the importance of water and its quality for various uses of
water such as irrigation, drinking, industry, power generation, recreation, etc. Water is one of
the important inputs for crop production when fertilizer is used. If it is polluted, it may be
dangerous not only for plants, animals as well as for human being. Before using water for
irrigation, its quality should be assessed so that it does not create any health hazard. If low
quality of water is utilized for irrigation, soluble salts and /or other toxic elements like arsenic
may accumulate in the soil thus deteriorating soil properties and crop quality. He opines that
uses of surface water, particularly of Brahmaputra, are being gradually constrained due to
increasing pollution in the form of urban and industrial wastes. His scientific findings based
on various tests reveal that Brahmaputra water cannot be used for any domestic purposes
without treatment.
A study was undertaken by Barman et al. (2013) on the land use and land cover of Majuli
islands for the period from 1975 to 1988 and from 1998 to 2008 based on remote sensing
data. The overall trend during a period of more than three decades revealed changes from
fallow land to settlement, grass land, water body, and grassland to settlement, water body and
plantation to settlement and fallow land. As the island was suffering predominantly from
erosion, their analysis showed that the majority of the grassland and fallow land were eroded
by Brahmaputra. Total grassland declined by 22.62 per cent, fallow land by 18.6 per cent,
areas of plantation by 2.19 per cent and water bodies by 0.16 per cent. However, the area
covered by human settlement was increased by 1.47 per cent due to population pressure.
Northwest Hydraulics Consultants (2006) undertook a study on River Brahmaputra with an
objective to review flood and erosion management infrastructure in terms of how it was
financed, operated, and maintained. Further it made an attempt to examine options for
supporting improved flood and erosion management measures. The study while mentioning
about abundant water resources of the North Eastern Region, pointed out that one-third of
India’s runoff flowed from the Northeast through the Brahmaputra and the Barak and there
existed a substantial unutilized groundwater resource. It was estimated to be about 60,000
megawatts of economically viable hydropower potential, of which only about 65 megawatts
were developed or under construction. The study further mentioned that abundant water
resources that imposed severe distress and costs on the region through frequent flooding
needed to be managed.
Goyari (2005) made an attempt to examine the sustainability of agriculture in Assam in the
face of damages caused by natural calamities like food. According to him frequent floods
every year in the state have been destroying standing crops, creating waterlogging, soil
erosion and affecting large crop areas and thus threatening the sustainability of the drive
towards higher productivity and production of various crops in the state. Damages done to
crops, cattle, houses and utilities alone between 1953 and 1995 was estimated at ₹4,400 crore
with a peak of ₹664 crore in a single bad year as mentioned in the Shukla Commission
Report (Govt. of India, 1997). The assessed flood-prone area in the state was estimated at
31.5 lakh hectares which was 92.6 per cent of the cultivated land as in 1992-93. Frequent
floods in the state also caused reduction in productivity of crops leading to change in the
cropping pattern from Kharif rice to summer rice and Rabi season crops. He mentioned that
most flood control measures undertaken were of short-term nature; therefore, there was a
need for concerted policy decisions on long-term basis by the government. The cooperation
of the neighbouring countries was also of paramount importance.
The government has erected flood defences in some areas. Aaranyak, a locally based NGO,
joined forces with the Kathmandu based International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development- the only transboundary organisation looking at development issues across the
Hindu Kush-Himalayan region – to install a number of flood early warning devices along the
Brahmaputra's banks.
5. Findings Based on Secondary Data
5.1 Positive Impact on Livelihood
The river Brahmaputra is central to creation of livelihood opportunities for millions of people
in Assam in the fields of cultivation, fishing, boatmen, tourist operators and employees of
ferry services etc. About 61 per cent of the total population is engaged in agricultural
activities. Annually irrigable land constitutes 65 per cent of the gross cropped area. Much of
this irrigation facility has been created directly and indirectly based on the river Brahmaputra
and its tributaries. Almost all the districts/places that are situated along the river bank of
Brahmaputra or its tributaries depend on these rivers for different livelihood related activities
including cattle wading, irrigation etc. Table 4 explains in details the use of water of
Brahmaputra and its tributaries for livelihood of the people.
This table makes it amply clear that all most all the 22 districts mentioned, people and
communities use the river for meeting their livelihood necessities in the form of wading of
cattle, fishing, cultivation of different types of crops, boat transport etc. Numbers of
industries also use the river for discharge of their industrial effluents (Table 5). This is a clear
reflection of the dependency of the economy of Assam on this great river.
5.2 Positive Impact on Infrastructure
River Brahmaputra has also its own role in contributing to the development of infrastructure
like water transportation and power generation. In subsequent two subsections we have
examined the extent and nature of these two infrastructural facilities.
5.2.1 Water Transport
Next to livelihood, the extent and nature of some of the physical infrastructure particularly
transport and communication is greatly dependent on this river system. Historically water
transport has been one of the oldest and cheapest modes of transport along with road
transport. During the days of village economy boats and rafts were used to transport the
goods as well as the people from one place to another on a very limited basis. With the
development of economy and trade within and outside the boundary of a nation, water
transport gained a lot of significance. Brahmaputra being a large river having international
presence starting from Tibet to Bangladesh through Indian Territory has the huge potential of
water transport. When it comes to Assam, it provides cheap and time efficient transport and
communication facility to the masses at large. As it is evident from the table, in most of
theplaces in these 22 districts of the state people use the ferry services for transportation of
men, animals and materials that include agricultural inputs and outputs, fish, milk, household
gadgets, bamboo, groceries, clothes, cows, goats etc. During 2013-14 the total no. of
passengers transported through inland water transport system in Brahmaputra stood at 70,
39,000(Economic Survey, Assam 2014-15). Total amount of goods transported through this
system was 3, 56,552 Metric Tons. These figures show comparatively higher magnitudes of
transportation of men and material in the economy of Assam.
Source: Computed from data collected from the site: <http://maps.mapmyindia.com/
explore/sea+port-in-guwahati-assam>
Further, to take advantage of this natural resource government of Assam has taken lot of
initiatives to utilise this by way of developing 10 ports/ferry ghats in five districts of Assam,
namely, Kamrup, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Jorhat and Dibrugarh (Table 6). Fifty per cent of ferry
ghats and ports in the state over river Brahmaputra are concentrated in one district, i.e.,
Kamprup. The other 50 per cent are spread over in four districts of Jorhat, Barpeta, Sonitpur
and Dibrugarh (Fig.4). This speaks of the unevenness of spread of ferry and port services in
the state. The state has introduced a number of vessels, ships and boats for the purpose of
movement of people and trade and commerce in these ghats. Table 7 reveals that all together
209 vessels, small or big, are engaged by the government for this purpose of which 162
numbers for movement of passengers and the remaining 47 for commercial purpose. Highest
percentage of vessels (31%) used for passenger transportation happens to be Shallow Draft
Boats and lowest (4%) wooden country boats (Fig.5). This has given rise to creation of
employment for 5344 persons of which 4332 are regular employees and rest are M.R.
workers (Fig.6). A number of finished products, raw materials and forest produce are
transported from and to Assam through water transport (Table 8).
Fig. 5: Types of Vessels Used
Source: Author’s computation based on data of Inland Water Transport, Govt. of Assam, 2012.
5.2.2 Power
This river and its tributaries are also sources of current and potential hydel power generation
in the state of Assam and thereby are destined to provide boost the power infrastructure in the
state. They carry more than 30 per cent of the total water resources potential of the country.
In the last few years there has been a spurt of activity in identifying more than hundred mega
dams in the eastern Himalayas especially in Arunachal Pradesh. Several of these like the
Lower Subansiri with 2,000 MW, on the Assam-Arunachal boarder presently at various
stages of planning and development. Besides a total of 897 sites have been identified for
small hydro projects in the entire northeast India of which 46 are identified in Assam only
(Table 9 & Fig.7).
Source: Author’s computation based on data of Inland Water Transport, Govt. of Assam, 2012.
Source: Author’s computation based on data of NEEPCO Limited, Shillong, Meghalaya.
There are two small hydel projects (SHP) in the Baksa district of Assam, namely Pahumara
and Rupahi. Pahumara is a hilly stream and is a tributary of river Brahmaputra. The project is
located near the village Laugaon in the Jalah Block of Baksa District in Assam with an
estimated cost of ₹1413.00 lakhs. It is 10 km from NH-31 at Bhawanipur point, 33 km from
Barpeta railway station and 148 km from Guwahati airport. It was proposed to have an
installed capacity of 2 MW consisting of 2 units of 1 MW each for augmenting power
generation in Bodo Territorial Council in order to provide electricity to un-electrified
villages. Annual revenue from the project at sales price of ₹3.20 per kwh was estimated to be
₹4269.35 lakhs. The project was expected to result in conservation of 8800 tons of coal
annually thereby providing a cleaner environment for future. Since the project uses renewable
resource for power generation it would benefit the global reduction of carbon – dioxide
(greenhouse gas) pollution by 8750 tonnes annually. There is no wild life habitat including
breeding, feeding and migration route within the project periphery. It is also not a potential
site for wild life sanctuary. There are no rare or endangered species of flora and fauna within
the project site. Besides, there are no monuments of cultural, historical, religious or
archaeological importance within the project boundaries.
Rupahi like Pahumara is also a hilly stream and a tributary of river Brahmaputra. Rupahi
project is also a small hydel project located near the village Rajabil in the Baksa District of
Assam with an estimated cost of ₹370 lakhs. It is 30 km from NH-31 at Bhawanipur point, 49
km from Barpeta railway station and 165 km from Guwahati airport. It was proposed to have
an installed capacity of 400 Kw. Annual revenue from the project at sales price of ₹3.63 per
kwh was estimated to be ₹68.28 lakhs.
5.3 Tourism
This riverine network also plays an important role in promoting tourism in the state of
Assam. As evident from Table 10, about 19 tourist hot spots are situated in places on the
banks of Brahmaputra. Recently river cruise on Brahmaputra is being organised by Govt. of
Assam as well as private tour operators. These cruises attract a large number of tourists from
within and outside the country. The tourists have the opportunities to choose short as well as
long sailing cruises from Guwahati to various tourist spots in Assam along the river
Brahmaputra.CNN International in 2013 has recognised Brahmaputra cruisesas one of the top
10 most adventures cruises. Further, Government of India has identified tourism to be an
important catalyst of development of the north eastern region including Assam. Numerous
schemes were announced and Ministry of tourism took a number of steps for promoting
tourism in the region. Project Tourism proposes an integrated development of river tourism
in Brahmaputra River. The project aims at a complete development of tourism by identifying
and integrating the hot spots along the banks of the mighty river Brahmaputra. The project
shall also address the needs of creating high quality state of the art infrastructure facilities for
river tourism based projects. The project is developed on the principle of conserving and
preserving the culture, tradition, heritage and environment. Tourism projects like river
cruising, water adventure sports and other projects shall be methodically selected.
A simple estimate of tourists flow to the state and revenue earned by different stake holders is
presented in Table 11. This table shows that total number of tourists to the state increased
from 3493527 to 4463479 during the period from 2006-07 to 2013-14 showing an increase of
28 per cent. This much of increase in tourist flow can be considered to be reasonably high
compared to equivalent previous periods of time. In 2013-14, number of foreign tourists
constituted only a meagre 0.43 per cent of the total tourist inflow. Further the average annual
growth rate of tourist flow is estimated to be 3.97 during this period. It is presumed that a
large chunk of this tourist inflow could be because of the attractions centered on the river
Brahmaputra. This inflow of tourists has generated revenue amounting ₹191 lakhs in the form
rental charges for different types of accommodations.
5.4 Fishery
The people in Assam are fond of fishes and a considerable proportion of rural people are
meeting their own requirement of fish by catching them from the water bodies. Basically
fishing is a tradition in the state. Although fishery is quite popular in the state, it is not
developed up to the desired level. The contribution of fishery sector to State Domestic
Product is very nominal and it is estimated at around 2.0 per cent (Economics Survey 2014-
15). Fish production in the State has reached the level of 266.7 thousand tonne in 2013-14
which is about 5.0 percent more than the previous year. However, against the current
economic demand of 279.53 thousand tonne, there is a shortfall of 12.83 thousand tonne. The
gap between present production and requirement is partially met by importing fish from other
states. From the point of minimum nutritional requirement the present fish production in the
State (the current estimated requirement of fish is 318.1 thousand tonne calculated on the
basis of minimum nutritional requirement of 11 kg per capita per annum) is far below. The
present per capita availability of fish is about 9 Kg. With a view to increase per capita
availability of fish and to narrow down the production requirement gap, State Fisheries
Department has adopted a number of positive interventions and has given special emphasis
for scientific fish farming in beels and community tanks through awareness, training,
government support and subsequent bank linkage. Strategies have also been formulated for
sustainable development of the fisheries sector. According to another estimate more than 90
per cent fish products are imported by Assam (Das and Antoney, 2010). However, the
mighty river Brahmaputra, its tributaries and other water bodies provide huge scope of fish
production. In their scientific study conducted by Das and Antoney in 2010 identified
eighteen species of fishes comprising 15 genera and 10 families. Table 12 reveals that Assam
has a huge number of water bodies like river, beels, reservoir, ponds etc. There are 55 river
fisheries spread over land of 4820 km. Besides, other water bodies are spread over in 285220
ha of land in the state. There are 192 beels under AFDC and 1393 unregistered beels in the
state in different districts (Table 13). Although segregated data are not available on quantity
of production of fish seed and fishes in Assam in different water bodies, particularly in the
river Brahmaputra, the aggregate figures reveals that it plays an important role in the
economy of Assam. Fig.8 reveals that 4546 million fish seeds were produced in Assam in
2013-14. Since 2007-08 it is showing an increasing trend in production of fish seeds (Table
14). Similarly fish productions are also increasing and it was as high as 282.7 thousand tons
in 2014-15 (Fig. 9). However, quantity of production of fish varied from one district to
another. Kamrup is found to be the largest producer of fishes (Table 15).
Trend of Fish and Fish Seed Production
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Fishery, Dispur.
5.5 Negative Impact on Livelihood and Infrastructure
Brahmaputra is not an unmixed blessing. As mentioned in the introduction section, after the
devastating earthquake in 1950 and some recent environmental and population developments,
the life-line of the economy and society of Assam has brought in untold miseries to the
people of Assam. These miseries which have manifested in the form of increased river bank
erosion, denudation, saltation and sandcasting etc. have directly and indirectly affected the
livelihood of the people of the state through deteriorating situation in the front of
displacement, loss of livelihood, land and jobs. In colonial Assam Lakhimpur division of
Lakhimpur districtcould not have a railway line because of theheavy rains and floods. Hunter
in 1879 also mentioned how the Misings were pushed to cultivate fallow land because of
continuous floods. In recent times, there has been enormous internal displacement and
migration to urban areas because of loss of land by the natives like the Missings and other
communities. As Bhuyan (2011) mentions, cultural events like Porag (harvest festival) have
started being celebrated every five to six years instead of being celebrated every year. This is
because pathological floods bring in untold economic hardship to the Missings hitting hard
on their capability to celebrate the festival every year. Phukan et al. (2012) have reported that
bank erosion has wiped out more than 2500 villages and 18 towns including sites of cultural
heritage and tea gardens, affecting the lives of nearly 5, 00, 000 people. Satellite image
estimation shows that the total land loss per year due to erosion of Brahmaputra ranges from
72.5 to 80 sq. km/year during 1997 to 2007–08. Since 2009 almost every year flood hits
Assam. However, the flood hazard of 2004 broke all the previous records of flood damage,
affecting 28.5 million hectare of land, 12.3 million people, 12.57 million hectare of cropland,
and 10,560 villages besides claiming 251 human lives and innumerable cattle and wildlife.
All the 27 districts were affected by the flood and the total damage was estimated at ₹ 6500
crore. As many as 336 nos. of breaches had occurred in the embankments that aggravated the
flood, erosion and sedimentation problems. Erosion hazard posed by the Brahmaputra is also
extremely severe in several vulnerable sections like Majuli, Palasbari, Rohmoria, Bhuragaon,
Bokuwal, etc. Majuli, the world's largest inhabited freshwater island and the legendary nerve
centre of Neo-Vaishnavite cultural heritage of Assam, has already lost as much as 371 sq. km
of its landmass to the river in the last 50 years.
According to a study undertaken by Northwest Hydraulics Consultants (2006) floods affected
on an average of 0.8 million hectares of land annually, and in some years affected more than
4 million hectares of land out of a total area of 7.54 million hectares in Assam. Such
extensive floods inundated at least 2,000 villages in addition to destroying other
infrastructures. Due to riverbank erosion, about 8,000 hectares of riparian land along the
River were damaged. Since Brahmaputra master plan and sub basin plans were not available
in the public domain and it was not clear to what extent, if any, there was meaningful public
input to the various critical issues that the plans involved, the study could not comment much
on the issue. Rather the study showed concern for land use adaptation, protection of fish
habitat, flood protection, erosion control, responses to climate change, etc. A detailed account
of damages due to flood in Brahmaputra valley in Assam over the period from 1953 to 2005
is presented in Fig.10 & 11 and Table 16.
Affected No. of Population and Damages Due to Floods
Source: Author’s computation based on data of Water Resources Department, Govt. of Assam.
A qualitative study undertaken by Khan (2012) in Mandia Block of Barpeta district
discovered that people on the eroded land migrated to the nearest villages, towns and even to
some reserve places of Assam due to Brahmaputra River erosion. In this Block agriculture
was the primary occupation of the majority of the people. Bank erosion led to loss of
agricultural land, which in turn has increased the number of landless labourers. Diminishing
agricultural land due to soil erosion and at the same time increasing number of landless
labourers had evidently an impact on their livelihood.
5.6 The Economy of Char Areas
Brahmaputra is one of the few rivers in the world that has led to formation of large numbers
of wastelands (called Chars in Assam) during its journey in the plains of Assam. Chars are
formed during floods with deposits of silts from year to year. Government of Assam defines
the Char Areas as “the sandy land area extended from Sadiya to Dhubri within the river
Brahmaputra or surrounded by the water of river Brahmaputra, where people can live and
cultivate. It also includes areas on either side of the river Brahmaputra extended up to nearby
embankment which are recurrently affected by floods and where people live and cultivate the
land.” (As quoted by Chakraborty, 2009: p.9). The chars initially remained as areas of natural
habitation. However, it is the British who transformed them into areas of human
habitationsby importing mostly Muslim agricultural labourers from East Bengal. This process
continued for more than two centuries and all the char areas got occupied and cultivated.
However, despite their centuries’ long existence, the char areas even today remain less
studied and less developed. Nonetheless, they have their own economy and their own stories
of contribution and underdevelopment to tell upon. Any informed description and analysis of
the socio-economic life of the people residing in the char areas requires continuous and
updated macro data. Unfortunately, the Directorate of Char Areas Development, Government
of Assam, has not undertaken any recent survey with regard to the socio-economic life of the
people and community in Char areas. Two of the important surveys on the Char areas were
undertaken way back during 1992-93 and 2003-04. In the absence of any recent survey, we
are compelled to use these two surveys along with some recent micro studies as principal
source of data for our analysis.
5.6.1 Demographic Profile of Char Areas
The geographical spread of the Chars is all over 14 districts of Assam en route the journey of
the River Brahmaputra. As per the Socio Economic Survey Report of Char Areas, 2003-04
prepared by the Directorate of Char Areas Development, there were altogether 2251 Char
Villages in all these 14 districts with a total population of 24, 90, 097 (Table 17). Dhubri
district has the highest number of Chars (480) and Nalbari has the lowest number of Chars
(32). In 1992-93, the total number of char areas scattered in these 14 districts was 2089, with
Barpeta district having the highest number of Chars (351) and Nagaon having the lowest
numbers of Chars (29) (Table 18). This shows the element of geographical instability of the
chars primarily caused by the erosion, silting, and inundation due to floods and change of
course of the river Brahmaputra (Fig. 12).
Fig. 12: Concentration of Char Areas in Different Districts of Assam
Source: Authors’ computation based on data of Socio-Economic Survey Reports, 1992-93 &2003-04,
Directorate of Char Areas Development, Govt. of Assam.
Further, there has been an increase of 7.75 percent in the numbers of the char areas over a
period of 10 years (Chakraborty, 2014). During this 10 year period, the area of the char land
has increased by 1.37% whereas population in these areas has increased by 56 %. Compared
with the 18.85% decadal growth rate of population of Assam for the period 1991-2001, this
growth rate of population of char is extremely high. Similarly, the density of population in
the char areas during 2002-03 was 690 per sq. km, whereasfor the state as a whole it was 340
per sq. km. This means, the density of population of the char areas was more than double the
density of population for the state as a whole. The char areas inhabit 9.37 percent of the total
population of the state while they possess only 4 percent ofAssam’s agricultural land
(Chakarborty, 2011). The per capita availability of cultivable land in the char areas has also
marginally declined from 0.26 acres to 0.24 acres during this 10 year period.
When it comes to two of the fundamental requirements of development, i.e., education and
health, the char areas rank poorly. During this period of 1991-92 to 2002-03, the literacy rate
in Char areas has marginally increased from 15.45% to 19.31%; a meagre increase of only
3.86 percentage points (Fig.13). Literacy rate for Assam in 1991 and 2001 stood at 52.89%
and 63.30% respectively. It increased by 10.4 percentage points. It is then evident that in
2002-03, the literacy rate in Char areas was less than one third of the literacy rate for the state
as a whole. In fact four districts namely Dhubri, Kamrup, Bongaigaon, and Tinsukia have
even experienced decline in the literacy rate showing a situation of utter regression. In terms
of educational institutions, the Char areas present a pathetic picture. In all these char areas
total number of LP schools in 2002-03 was only 1852 (Table 19). In terms of per capita
availability of primary school, the figure comes to only 0.07 %.
Source: Author’s computation based on data of Water Resources Department, Govt. of Assam.
The status of health infrastructure in the char areas was equally bad (Table 20). There were
only 52 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the char areas and the ratio of population to PHC
was 47893. For the state as a whole this figure was better at 43670. The cumulative effects of
all these have also caused another astonishing regression in the level of poverty by increasing
from 48.89 % in 1992-93 to 67.89% in 2002-03.
5.6.2 Vicious Circle of Poverty in Char Areas
The people and community in char areas have been trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and
underdevelopment. High growth of population, low literacy, poor health infrastructure,
inadequate physical infrastructure and uncertain livelihood opportunities together trap the
char people in perpetual poverty. These variables trigger poverty and poverty subsequently
causes further deterioration in these variables. In the course of this cause and effect circle,
another important source of their living, i.e., the physical environment gets damaged. This
happens when poverty and population growth force these people either to migrate to nearby
towns/cities or occupy any other inhabited char areas nearby. In the latter case, it affects the
environment negatively by making the char areas more prone to erosionas explained in the
following flow chart:
As discussed earlier, the people in the char areas are victims of poverty, illiteracy and high
population growth. This situation sets off the subsequent chain of interactions finally leading
to a condition of increased erosion and environmental degradation. Poverty and high density
of population compels the char inhabitants to look beyond their present areas of homestead
and cultivation. They are confronted with two choices before them, i.e., either to migrate to
nearby towns/cities or inhabit new char natural habitations. In the latter case, they start
cultivating these new char areas with deep ploughing. As Gorky Chakraborty (2010) writes
this causes severe damage to the open structures of heterogeneous pore system developed out
of gradual micro-biological homogenization from upper to deeper layers. This disturbance of
the soil profile in these outer surfaces also disturbs the natural drainage system that makes it
more prone to erosion during the next flood. In addition to this, in their urge to bring in more
and more catchment areas to cultivation, they clear all the natural vegetation, shrubs etc. This
makes the catchment areas too vulnerable for erosion during floods.
Thus people in the char areas of Assam live their lives in an environment of uncertainty,
illiteracy, poverty and inadequate basic infrastructure. Their socio-economic life is
subjugated to a vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment. This has its negative impact
on the larger physical environment where in they live. To ameliorate them from this vicious
circle requires some determined external intervention from the side of the Government and
other important non-state developmental players.
6. Micro Situation through Case Studies of Regions and Individuals
6.1 Majuli
6.1.1 A Case Study of Majuli River Island
An informed understanding of the impact of Brahmaputra on the socio-economic life of
Assam can never be possible without an analysis of ‘Majuli’, the largest river island in the
world. Located in the north of Jorhat district of Assam, the island is surrounded by the river
Subansiri on the northwest, the KherkutiaSuti in the northeast and the main Brahmaputra
River on the south. This island was initially spread over an area of 1250 km2 in Upper Assam
but has been reduced to 584.38 km2
in 2011. The population profile as per 2011 Census
reveals that the island is inhabited by 44% of STs, 14% SCs and 42% of others. The overall
literacy rate is 73.9%. The island is accessible by ferries and about 20 km from the city of
Jorhat. The people living in the island are mainly belonging to Mishing tribe who have
migrated from Arunachal Pradesh. Other tribal inhabitants are Deori and Sonowal Kacharis.
They speak mainly Missing, Assamese and Deori language/dialect. There are six colleges,
five junior colleges, not less than 40 schools and two civil hospitals in dilapidated condition
with poor service in the island. Main occupation of the people living in the island is
agriculture.
Fig. 14: River Bank Erosion in Majuli Island
Sources: (1) Snaps taken by authors at Majuli; (2) Last photo taken from the webpage:
http://infochangeindia.org/environment/northeast-s-fragile-ecology/lost-island.html
However, the island is prone to continuous riverbank erosion and high floods as shown in
Fig.14. From Table 21, it is evident that the island is prone to very high degree of erosion.
The impact of the continuous riverbank erosion and high floods is clearly visible on the
socio-economic life of the people here in the form of increased density of population and
shifting pattern of economic activity of workers. It is evident from table that the density of
population has increased from 61 in the year 1951 to 286 in the year 2011. Although relative
population growth is one of the reasons for it, but the dwindling physical area of the island is
the most important reason for it. This high density of population has its obvious pressure on
the available economic activities to be pursued. Continuous erosion and extensive sand silting
because of recurrent floods compel the natives (majority of whom happen to be tribal) of the
island to search for alternative employment opportunities within and outside the island.
Often, this situation makes them remain heavily underemployed or virtually unemployed.
Table 22 makes this situation explicit. From this table it is obvious that the percentage of
people who used to depend on agriculture has continuously been falling. The severity of this
situation is clearly visible from the pattern of employment in the year 2001. The 1990 decade
has experienced two very major floods with extensive soil erosion and sand silting. As a
result, 2001 Census reports a significant percentage point fall (50 percentage point) in the
workers engaged in self-cultivation against the Census year 1991. This magnitude of fall is
unprecedented not only in the state but also in the country as a whole.
Along with these countless distress brought on the people, this mighty river has also some
positive stories to tell and blessings to offer to the natives of this island. Farmers also grow
large varieties of paddy and vegetables because of alluvial soil deposited on the cultivable
land due to frequent flood in the island. The other three important occupations which have
direct positive connections with the river include fishing, boat making and pottery. Besides,
people are also engaged in few other economic activities such as dairy, handloom, and mask
making which are somehow indirectly dependent on the water of the river Brahmaputra.
Of late, the island is attracting a good number of tourists particularly in the autumn and
winter months. This is because the island is the abode of neo Vaishnavism culture of Assam.
It has been the cultural capital of Assamese civilisation since 16th
Century based on records
describing the visit of SrimantaSankardeva, a 16th
Century social reformer and the pioneer of
medieval age neo Vaishnavism movement and the preacher of monotheist form of Hinduism
called Vaishnavism. While preaching the said culture he had established 65 monasteries and
hermitages in the island locally known as Satras, the photographs of four Satras shown in
Fig.15.
But now only 22 Satras are functional and the main surviving ones are Dakhinpat, Garamurh,
Auniati, Kamalbari, Benegenaati, and Shamaguri. These Satras have preserved antiques like
utensils, jewellery, weapons, and other items of cultural significance in their museums. The
island is also a treasure and hotspot of flora and fauna, which harbours many rare and
endangered avifauna species and migratory birds that arrive in winter season. The southern
part of the island is a paradise for bird lovers and watchers. All these treasures attract large
number of tourists to the island every year and have become sources of livelihood to the
inhabitants. However, along with these positive narratives, happenings and accruals, one also
comes across undesirable developments. The high endemic floods coupled with continuous
river bank erosion leading to depletion of landmass have compelled many of the established
‘Satras’ to relocate to places outside of Majuli for reasons of safety and economics. This
situation, if it is allowed to continue unabated, may finally bring the curtain down on the age-
old cultural richness of the land and its people leading to a sharp fall in the numbers of
tourists.
Fig. 15: Some Satras in Majuli Island
Sources: (1) readtiger.com (2) wikipedia.org
6.1.2 Individual Case Studies in Majuli
Visits were paid to Kamalabari village to understand the villagers who are living on the bank
of the river, their occupations and livelihood and the office of the ferry services at
KamalbariGhat and to have first-hand information about the impacts of river and the Ghat on
the economy of the people in the Majuli Island during 21-24 October 2015. The information
received from the three villagers and the ferry officials are summarised in the form of case
studies presented in the following paragraphs.
Rajiv Pamegam is the resident of village Kamalbari which is situated on the bank of the River
Brahmaputra in Majuli (Fig.16). Rajiv belongs to the legendary Mishing Tribe. Members of
this tribe have historically been living along the banks of River Brahmaputra. Rajiv was
originally a resident of Alimur Mishing Village, which was situated 10-12 km from the
present location. Twenty one years back i.e., in 1994 his village was submerged in folds of
Brahmaputra. He along with other fellow villagers was forced to displace and get relocated in
the present village. His family lost approximately 10-12 acres of land.
Fig. 16: Case Study I
Rajiv Pamegam (2nd
from the left) along with his daughter
In the present village, the life of Rajiv and hisfamily members to a great extent is dependent
on the river Brahmaputra. He owns four acres of land and undertakes cultivation. He earns on
an average ₹ 72,000/- per annum from agriculture. His land gets the benefit of the alluvial
deposits from the floods in River Brahmaputra. In addition to it he also undertakes piggery
and earns approximately ₹ 24,000/- per annum. Rajiv and his family of three members also
collect two to three logs from river Brahmaputra during the floods. Last year his family
earned ₹ 6000/- by selling these logs in Kamalabari Market. Rajiv and his family are directly
and indirectly dependent on river Brahmaputra for their livelihood and life. Their cultivation
depends on river Brahmaputra, their water source depends on Brahmaputra and their
collection of woods and logs depend on the floods of Brahmaputra. They too use the ferry
services on the River for commuting to palaces like Jorhat. However, Rajiv like his other
fellow villagers also lives under the constant fear of losing his cultivable lands to the floods
of Brahmaputra through continuous inundation and erosion. For Rajiv and his family,
Brahmaputra is simultaneously a necessary evil as well as an uncertain noble.
Fig. 17: Case Study II Fig. 18: Case Study III
Sanjiv Kumar Pamegam (2nd
from the left)
along with his wife P.C. Bora (In the middle).
Sanjiv Kumar Pamegam, aged 40 years, is also another resident of village Kamalbari. Sanjiv
lives with his wife Junti and two sons Pramananda and Bitul. Sanjiv too belongs to the well-
known Mishing tribe and originally was a resident of AlimurMishing Village, which was
situated 10-12 km from the present location (Fig.17). Like Rajiv, he and his family got
displaced to this village when he was only 19 years old, because of very severe floods in
Brahmaputra in 1994. His family lost their precious 6 bighas of land. Presently, Sanjiv along
with his partner Pulandaris primarily engaged in fishing in river Brahmaputra for making a
livelihood. He owns two boats and catches fish for five months i.e., from October to February
every year. He earned approximately ₹ 75,000/- last year through fishing. Besides fishing, he
also collects logs from Brahmaputra every year during floods. Last year he earned ₹ 7000/-
through collection of logs and disposed them in Kamalabari Market in Majuli. Sanjiv’s wife
works as an assistant in theAganwadi centre in the village and earns ₹ 24,000/- in a year.
Sanjiv cannot think of his and his family’s life without the river Brahmaputra. With a gross
annual income of approximately ₹ 100000/- he can afford to provide education to two of his
children. His eldest son aged 16 years, is in class XII and his second son Bitul is in class VII.
However, like Rajiv Pamegam, Sanjiv cannot forget the 1994 fury of Bramhaputra that had
taken away from them their most important source of livelihood i.e., their prized cultivable
land. Hence the continual fear of losing the present land and homestead haunts him
incessantly.
P.C Bora, aged 60 years, happens to be another resident of the same village Kamalabari,
Majuli (Fig.18). He is an ex-service man, who had retired from Indian Army way back in
1991. Bora has five family members. He gets a pension of ₹13,000/- and is presently engaged
in cultivation. His only son, who is a class X pass-out, works as a driver with a local ferry
company and earns ₹2200/- per month. To Bora, river Brahmaputra is something in the
absence of anything better in terms of employment and livelihood opportunities. It gives his
family a critical minimum of income. Like Sanjiv and Rajiv, Bora is also very frightened that
someday he may lose his land, livelihood and identity because of high floods.
6.1.3 Lessons from the Cases from Majuli
The common message of these cases: (i) River Brahmaputra has been and continues to be the
life line of the people of Majuli; (ii) However, during the past five decades, because of
manmade and natural negative developments, the benign Brahmaputra has turned largely
devastating threatening the foundation of the socioeconomic and geo-economic life of the
natives; (iii) Brahmaputra is simultaneously a necessary evil as well as an uncertain noble;
(iv) To reduce the devastating effect and to continue to realise its benevolence on the
socioeconomic life, immediate, short term and long term measures in the form of
environmentally, economically, socially and culturally sustainable measures need to be taken
up by all the relevant stake holders.
6.1.4 Economics of Ferry Business in Majuli Ghats
To understand the ferry business and its implications in the local economy in Majuli two of
the ferry officials Mr. Pabitra Dutta, aged 55 years and Mr. Babul Dowarah, aged 52 years
were contacted and relevant information collected. According to them there are eight nos. of
Ghats, namely, (1) KamalbariNimati, (2) AfalaNimati, (3) DakshinpathNimati, (4)
ChalbharaNimati, (5) BaguriguriNimati, (6) PhoolaniDikhamukh, (7) ShikariDikhamukh and
(8) SumaimariNimati at Majuli which operate ferry services for the day to day movement of
people from Majuli to Jorhat and Jorhat to Majuli. The biggest Ghat is known as
NimatiKamalbari which has five small boats and two big boats. Each boat provides one up
and one down trip every day. Generally boat(s) start at 8.00 am, 8.15 am, 8.30 am and 10.30
am for onward journey to Majuli and return back to its starting point. There are only two up
and down trips for each for AfalaNimati and DakshinpathNimati. The rest five Ghats, each
has one up and one down trip. The people who use ferry services are mainly office goers,
daily wage labourers, students and the tourists visiting different Satras in Majuli which is
famous for preservation of Vaishnavite culture. Because of the movement of people, vehicles,
and goods a lot of money is earned by the owner of ferry services. The ferry services create a
number of employment as ferry drivers, ferry workers, office staff etc along with workers
working in various food stalls on the Ghats. The boats are owned by the Government of
Assam and the staff working for the ferry services is state government employees. However,
the service is out sourced to private companies by auctioning boats. It is observed that each
small boat has a capacity for 150 persons, 3 four-wheelers and about 50 two-wheelers. Large
boats carry 200 persons, 6 four-wheelers, and about 50 two-wheelers. Although there are a
limited number of boats with limited capacities, these are always over loaded with
passengers. Price of ferry ticket for person is ₹15/-, for two-wheelers it is charged ₹25/- and
for four-wheelers it is ₹706/-. Per day earning from the biggest Ghat in terms of ferry services
is about ₹82,500/- consisting of ₹ 34,500 from passengers, ₹30,000/- from four-wheelers and
₹18,000/- from two-wheelers. This is a conservative estimate which excludes earning from
over loading passengers. There are 12 food stalls on KamalbariNimati. Each food stall is
earning per day on an average ₹3000/- with a variation from ₹1500/- to ₹4000/- by selling
food stuffs. Thus an amount of income of ₹36,000/- is generated by the food stall owners.
Total earnings from the biggest Ghat per day comes to about ₹1, 18, 500/- and generating
employment for at least 35 persons including ferry staff and food stall owners.
Although the ghats and ferry business generate income and employment for the local people,
it has its own short comings in terms of poor infrastructure and services. It is found that the
infrastructure in the Ghat is not properly developed because of which passengers and vehicle
owners face problems while boarding and off boarding the boats. Reasons for not making
permanent structures in the Ghat as reported by the officials and general public is due to
frequent flood and erosion of banks of the river. Location of a Ghat changes from year to year
depending upon the extent of erosion of banks. As a result permanent structure for ghats
becomes next to impossible. This not only causes a lot of hardships to the management of
ferry, a good amount of money is also spent for making temporary structures in the ghats.
During rainy season, when river is full with water and surrounding is flooded, ferry business
gets affected and the people suffer to a great extent as they have to remain underemployed.
6.2 Dhubri
6.2.1 A Case Study of Dhubri
Located in the extreme western part of the state of Assam, the district of Dhubri is bounded
by Bangladesh and West Bengal in the west, the Garo region of the state of Meghalaya and
the districts of Goalpara and Bongaigaon of Assam in the East; Kokrajhar district of Assam
in the north and Bangladesh and Meghalaya in the south. The district gets bisected by the
river Brahmaputra. As a result of this bisection, the sub-divisions of Dhubri and Bilasipara lie
to the north of it and the subdivision of South Salmara-Mankachar to the south of it. The total
area of this district is approximately 1664 sq. km which includes plains, river islands and
hillock ranges.
The local economy of Dhubri sub-division and the subdivision of south Salmara-Mankachar
revolve around Brahmaputra and its tributary Gadadhar. Since the district and its
headquarters are bounded by both national and international boundaries and Brahmaputra
flows down in the middle, Dhubri town has become an important point of confluence for
trade, transportation, and tourism. Along the banks of the river in the town, several ghats
such as New Ghat, Jogamayaghat, Panchughat, Patharghat etc. have come up facilitating
intra district, inter-district, inter-state and international transportation of men and materials.
Every day around 150-200 ferries of different types and sizes ferry in the waters of
Brahmaputra carrying small business men, small cultivators along with various types of
goods such as fresh vegetables, fresh milk, fresh fish, live country chickens, cows, cement,
iron rods, other building materials, groceries, utensils, household gadgets, plastic utilities etc.
Most of these small time traders, cultivators etc. come from places such as Phulbari (in Garo
Region of Meghalaya), Mankechor, Sukhchor, Phakirganj, Hatsinghmari etc. There are
around three hundred small venders/shopkeepers selling and dealing with various
commodities and services ranging from groceries, clothes and eatables to haircuts. A simple
estimation of the daily economic activities centring Brahmaputra and its tributary along the
various ghats in Dhubri town is presented in the following Table 23.
It is evident from the table that on an average 2600 people get direct daily employment
depending on the Brahmaputra River. These people work in the ferries, in bamboo
transportation trade, retail shops and services units along the bank, retail traders commuting
from surrounding islands, regions including states like Meghalaya. Daily average indirect
employment created is estimated to be around 5000 person days. Daily direct and indirect
employment taken together comes to about 7600 person days. This figure is significant
considering total population of 63000 in Dhubri municipal area as per 2011 Census. Further,
when it comes to gross amount of sales undertaken, the figure is noteworthy at ₹3.312 crores.
Although, the case of Dhubri town and its bank economy cited above presents a very positive
picture of the impact of Brahmaputra, the river has its storey of devastation and misery too.
Below we present two individual sample cases that narrate the cascading negative impact on
the economic life of individuals and households and that too barely 3 km away from the
centre of the town.
6.2.2 Individual Case Studies in Dhubri
Visits were paid to two villages, namely, Chhagalchhara (Part I) and Majhherchar N.C. to
understand the villagers who are living on the bank of the river, their occupations and
livelihood to have first-hand information about the impacts of river on the economy of the
people in Dhubri during 5-8 December 2015. The information received from the two villagers
are summarised in two case studies presented in the following paragraphs.
Fig. 19: Case Study IV Fig. 20: Case Study V
Akkar Ali (In the right) Md. Shermat Ali Sekh
Md. Akkar Ali is a resident of village Chhagalchara (Part-I). This village is only 3 km away
from Dhubri City centre (Fig. 19). Akkar’s (aged seventy years) life in this village is a story
of the unceasing flurry and raze of Bramhaputra. He has been staying in this village for the
last sixty years. This year he has lost his house to the floods of Brahmaputra. During the
period 1991-2015, he has lost 10-12 bighas of cultivable land. Presently he and his 10 family
members make a living through share cropping, rickshaw pulling and undertaking of casual
labour in Dhubri town. This year, he and his family members had to be shifted to the river
bank for temporary rehabilitation for a month. Md. Akkar’s story of a reasonably well
grounded cultivator to a traumatised share cropper and casual labour within a span of two and
half decades, is also the story of another 8 households who still live in this village with no
hope but all despair and despondency. It is a story of riches to rags, resources to ruins; hope
to despair because of the continuous course change and heavy floods in River Brahmaputra.
Md. Shermat Ali Sekh, aged 62 years, is a resident of village Majhherchar N.C. This village
has a total population of 105 (Fig.20). He has 10 members in his household. Presently, he
works as a casual labour in Dhubri town with little of supporting income from animal rearing
such as cows. During the last 40 years, he has lost 60 bighas of cultivable land because of
river bank erosion and change of course of the river. During the last 10 years, he has changed
his homestead three times because of inundation and engulfing of his homestead by the river
Brahmaputra. Acute poverty inflicted on him by Brahmaputra has not allowed him to send
his children and grandchildren to schools. Like Md. Akkar in the earlier case, Shermat’s
social and economic life story narrates a tale of previous treasures and riches to a present
captivity in untold misery and destitution.
6.2.3 Lessons from the Cases in Dhubri
The common message of these cases: (i) River Brahmaputra has been and continues to be the
life line of the people of Dhubri town and surrounding areas and regions; (ii) The socio-
economic life of people of Dhubri town, surrounding islands, areas in Garo region in
Meghalaya and other neighbouring districts of Assam like Goalpara, Bangaigaon and
Kokrajhar get positively impacted by Brahmaputra; (iii) Brahmaputra has been significantly
contributing to the thriving local economy of Dhubri town in terms of employment and
trade; (iv) Brahmaputra is simultaneously a certain noble as well as a perpetual agony; (iv)
To reduce the devastating effect and to continue to realise its benevolence on the
socioeconomic life, immediate, short term and long term measures in the form of
environmentally, economically, socially and culturally sustainable measures need to be taken
up by all the relevant stake holders.
6.3 Guwahati
6.3.1 A Case of Rani Chapari Island
We had purposively selected another island on the outskirts of Guwahati city known as Rani
Chapari. This Island belongs to the Palashbari revenue circle and is used by the farmers of
villages like Bhattapara, Kheliapara, Mirzapur, Aambari, Kuhabari, Majirgaon, Sadilapur,
Palashbari, and Sualkuchi etc. Farmers belonging to these villages cultivate in this island
vegetables of all types, jute, mustard, paddy etc. some of which are presented below in the
form of few photographs (Fig.21). The island gets alluvial soil deposits every year through
floods and its soil has become very fertile too. It becomes easy for the villagers of these
villages to commute to this island by local boats. This saves time for them as they are able to
avoid the traffic of the city.
Fig. 21: Cultivation of Crops and Vegetables in Rani Chapari Island
Source: Snaps taken by authors.
6.3.2 Individual Case Study in Bhattapara
Golak Das is a resident of village Bhattapara having six members in his household. Out of all
the six members, five are literate and one is illiterate (Fig. 22). Agriculture happens to be the
principal economic activity of his household. Presently Golak owns 5 Bighas of cultivable
land in the Rani Chapari Island. He and his family earn a net annual income of ₹60,000/-
from agriculture. This is possible because of the fertile nature of the landed property that he
owns in Rani Chapari Island. In addition to agriculture, he and his family members catch fish
from Brahmaputra for self-consumption. Including imputed value of agricultural products for
self- consumption, the total annual income of his family comes to around ₹1,30,000/-.
Golak’s family use the water of Brahmaputra for various purposes such as washing of cloths,
washing of domestic animals and bathing and toilet. They also use Brahmaputra for travel to
their agricultural fields in Rani Chapari Island. However, Brahmaputra is not an unmixed
blessing to him. During the last five years he has lost 4 bighas of cultivable land to the
changing course of this mighty river including soil erosion. Last year he has suffered a crop
and land damage to the tune of ₹50,000/-. For Golak and his family, they cannot think of a
life without Brahmaputra. However, they do live under constant fear of losing their valued
cultivable land.
Fig. 22: Case Study VI
Golak Das (In the left)
7. Baseline Survey
In addition to the case studies, we undertook a primary survey in three different villages to
understand from close angles the sway of river Brahmaputra on the socioeconomic live of
people living in different parts of Assam. On the basis of data collected from these
households we made an attempt to analyse and present the same in the following paragraphs.
These data, mostly about the impact of Brahmaputra on the socioeconomic life, have been
analysed at the levels of village/community and households.
7.1 Brahmaputra and the Impact on Community
Details about the profile of villages are given in Table 24. From this table, it is clear that in
terms of total population these villages are similar. They differ in terms of literacy rates.
Highest literacy of 96.87% was in village Bhattapara (Guwahati) as compared to the lowest
of 66.67% in Motishwar (Dhubri). As regards infrastructural facilities in the villages we took
into account 13 variables to measure whether there was existence of educational institutions
like schools at different levels, colleges, health centres, ANM, Anganbari, types of roads,
electricity connection, etc. On the basis these we found the village in Dibrugarh was quite
developed in terms of infrastructure as compared to other two villages in Dhubri and
Guwahati.
To measure the dependency of villagers on river Brahmaputra, we examined their important
occupations and found out whether these occupations were dependent on this mighty river.
We identified four such occupations i.e., agriculture, fishing, transportation of men and
material, collection of logs and found that 90 per cent of all the households in total were
dependent on Brahmaputra for their livelihood (Table 25). Hundred per cent of the
households in Bhattapara village depended on the river Brahmaputra for their livelihood.
When it comes to specific activities like agriculture, approximately 59% of the households in
all the three villages taken together depended on the river Brahmaputra. With respect to
fishing, transportation of men and material and log collection, approximately 18%, 13% and
4% of the households respectively depended on Brahmaputra (Fig.23). However, there exists
inter-village difference with regard to the incidence of dependency on Brahmaputra for
undertaking various economic activities. Fishing was found to be more prominent in
Bhattapara in Kamrup metro district in comparison to other two villages in Dhubri and
Dibrugarh districts.
Source: Authors’ Survey.
7.2 Brahmaputra and its Impact on Households
Fig.24 and Table 26 reveals that surveyed households on an average had owned only 10
bighas of land 5 years before the date of survey, which was otherwise quite inadequate for
earning their livelihood. In the meantime during the last five years due to frequent floods and
river erosion the average land lost per household had been 1.7 bighas. Particularly the village
Bhattapara in Kamrup metro near Guwahati lost more land in comparison to other two
villages. In order to sustain their family the households have been forced to be engaged in
various other economic activities such as fishing, business, animal rearing, handloom, wage
labourer and sometimes full time jobs by the educated. Even with these varied economic
activities, the total income earned by them was quite low as evident from the figures
presented in Table 27. This table reveals that an amount of ₹32.8 lakhs were earned by 45
households from different occupations in 2014-15. This implies that annual income of each
household on an average was less than ₹73,000. Per-capita annual income stood out at a
meagre level of ₹3371. Thus each individual person had been living with a meagre monthly
income of ₹3371/- which speaks a lot about their living standard and level of poverty and
under nourishment (Fig. 25).
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Source: Authors’ Survey.
To know in what way the households have been benefitted by the river we had asked few
questions to them. Their opinions revealed that although flood damaged their crops they also
got benefited due to alluvial soil brought through flood to their lands thereby raising the
productivity of crops. Besides they used river water for irrigating their lands (Fig. 26 & Table
28). Travel by boats through the river water has been quite common and found to be
economical as compared to road transport. Besides they have been using river water for
different household day to day activities.
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Besides these benefits they had also to bear a lot of monetary losses due to frequent floods
and river bank erosions. The losses/damages have been quantified and presented in Fig.27
and Table 29. Due to flood they not only lost their land but also lost animals and boats. Their
houses, cowshed, toilet and crops were damaged. About assets worth ₹27.24 lakhs of 45
households were damaged during the last year. In other words an average family lost an asset
worth ₹60,533. This speaks a lot about the extent of damages caused by the river. However,
extent of damages varied from one place to another. Extensive damages happened to crops
and lands.
To know how well off economically they were some data on their day to day expenses;
savings and loan taken have been presented in Table 30. It is revealed that on an average each
household spent ₹6700 for buying their food and non-food items of which food items
constituted 62 per cent. In other words marginal propensity to consume for food items was
quite high revealing their poor economic status. This is again substantiated by their
outstanding loans. Each household on an average had a loan amounting ₹5556/-. In spite of
their low level of earning, their saving habits are also revealed from the data though the
amount is meagre.
7.3 Important Findings
7.3.1 Findings from Secondary Sources
1. People and communities in 22 districts of Assam use River Brahmaputra for meeting
their livelihood in the form of wading of cattle, fishing, and cultivation of different
types of crops, irrigation and riverine transport.
2. During 2013-14 the total no. of passengers transported through inland water transport
system in Brahmaputra stood at 70, 39,000. Total amount of goods transported
through this system was 3, 56,552 Metric Tons. These figures show comparatively
higher magnitudes of transportation of men and material in the economy of Assam.
3. Ten ports/ferry ghats in five districts of Assam, namely, Kamrup, Barpeta, Sonitpur,
Jorhat and Dibrugarh Assam are fully operational for transportation of men, material
and animals.
4. Operation of ferry services has given rise to creation of employment for 5344 persons.
5. River Brahmaputra and its tributaries carry more than 30 per cent of the total water
resources potential of the country.
6. In the last few years there has been a spurt of activity in identifying 46 dams in the
Brahmaputra basin in Assam of which three of them are in various stages of operation
and are expected to produce more than 2000 MW of power.
7. Nineteen important tourist hot spots in the state are situated in places on the banks of
river Brahmaputra.
8. Cruise tourism has emerged as an important adventure and pleasure tourism across the
river. CNN International in 2013 has recognised Brahmaputra cruises as one of the
top 10 most adventures cruises.
9. Total number of tourists to the state increased from 3493527 to 4463479 during the
period from 2006-07 to 2013-14 showing an increase of 28 per cent. This has resulted
revenue accrual of ₹191 lakhs in the form rental charges for different types of
accommodations. Sizeable chunk of this tourist flow and revenue earned can be
attributed to tourism activities on river Brahmaputra.
10. Against the current economic demand of 279.53 thousand tonnes of fish, there is a
shortfall of 12.83 thousand tonnes. The gap between present production and
requirement is partially met by importing fish from other states. This shows that there
is considerable scope for increasing fish production in Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
11. River bank erosion, denudation, saltation and sandcasting etc. have both directly and
indirectly affected the livelihood of the people of the state in the form of
displacement, loss of livelihood, land and jobs.
12. There has been internal displacement and migration to urban areas because of loss of
land by the natives like the Missings and other marginalized communities.
13. River bank erosion has wiped out more than 2500 villages and 18 towns including
sites of cultural heritage and tea gardens, affecting the lives of nearly 5 lakh people.
Satellite image estimation shows that the total land loss per year due to erosion of
Brahmaputra ranges from 72.5 to 80 sq. km/year during 1997 to 2007–08.
14. Flood hazard of 2004 broke all the previous records of flood damage, affecting 28.5
million hectare of land, 12.57 million hectare of cropland, 12.3 million people, and
10,560 villages besides claiming 251 human lives and innumerable cattle and wildlife.
All the 27 districts were affected by the flood and the total damage was estimated at ₹
6500 crore.
15. Majuli, the world's largest inhabited freshwater island and the legendary nerve centre
of Neo-Vaishnavite cultural heritage of Assam, has already lost as much as 371 sq.
km of its landmass to the river in the last 50 years.
16. Industrial units like Numaligarh Refinery, Upper Assam Industrial Areas of Oil and
Coal Fields, Numaligarh Refinery, and Jogighopa Paper Mill which are discharging
their effluents in to the river.
17. The typical flow of river Brahmaputra has given rise to formation of large number of
Chars. The geographical spread of the Chars is all over 14 districts of Assam en route
the journey of the river.There is an element of geographical instability of the chars
primarily caused by the erosion, silting, and inundation due to floods and change of
the course of the river Brahmaputra.
18. The char areas inhabit 9.37 per cent of the total population of the state while they
possess only 4 per cent of Assam’s agricultural land.During the 10 year period from
1992-93 to 2002-03, the area of the char land has increased by 1.37 per cent whereas
population in these areas has increased by 56 per cent. This has led to an increase of
density by two times of the density of population of the state leading to an enhanced
stresson the limited resources.
19. High growth of population, low literacy, poor health infrastructure, inadequate
physical infrastructure and uncertain livelihood opportunities together hastrapped the
char people in a perpetual state of poverty.
7.3.2 Findings from Case Studies and Primary Survey
1. River Brahmaputra has been and continues to be the life line of the people of Majuli,
Guwahati and Dhubri. However, during the past five decades, because of manmade
and natural negative developments, the benign Brahmaputra has turned largely
devastating threatening the foundation of the socioeconomic and geo-economic life of
the natives.
2. Total earnings from the biggest Ghat at Majuli per day estimated at ₹1, 18, 500 and
employment for at least 35 persons.
3. At Dhubri on an average 2600 people get direct daily employment in the ferries, in
bamboo transportation trade, retail shops and services units along the river Daily
average indirect employment created is estimated to be around 5000 person days.
Further, when it comes to gross amount of sales undertaken, the figure is noteworthy
at ₹ 3.31 crores.
4. The findings of our primary household sample survey validate our earlier findings
based on case studies. The structure and superstructure of socioeconomic life of
common people from Upper Assam, Central Assam and Lower Assam is heavily
founded on the existence and flow of this monumental river. Important traditional
economic activities like agriculture, fishing and inland communications have greatly
been dependent on this river and the riverine climate that it has created over thousands
of years.
5. Ninety per cent of all the households in sample villages were dependent on
Brahmaputra for their livelihood.
6. Approximately 59%, 18%, 13% and 4% of the surveyed households depended on the
river Brahmaputra for agriculture, fishing, transportation of men and material and log
collection respectively.
7. This colossal river over the last century has become extremely forceful, live
threatening and menacing bringing in huge damages to land, crops, animals and other
household and common properties like buildings and roads.On an average a family in
surveyed villages lost an asset worth ₹60,533 in the year 2014-15 due to floods.
8. Concluding Remarks
The Brahmaputra River has been and continues to be the lifeline to millions of people in
Assam irrespective of different occupations they pursue. Our analysis on the impact of the
river on the socio economic life of people of Assam with the help of secondary as well as
primary data clearly brings out the same. It helps the farmers in cultivation of their lands by
way of irrigation and delivery of vital nutrients to their fields. It also acts as a means of
transport of men and material. Many people are earning their livelihood and dependent
directly and indirectly on the river either as fishermen or boatmen or as daily labourers.
Though there exists enough potential of tourism related activities in the River much has not
been done to explore and develop the same. However, this Mighty River which was up to
1950s a certain developmental noble has turnout to be a necessary evil for many. Albeit its
positive impact on the economic conditions of the people it has its widespread negative
impacts in various ways. It causes misery to the people. It has earned notoriety for the
awesome hazards of annual flood and erosion that create mayhem every year, shatters the
fragile agro-economic base of the region and damages the banks of the River. Thousands
acres of cultivable lands are lost. Besides, it deposits tons of sands on nearby cultivable lands
making it less fertile or unusable by the farmers. Due to this many farmers have become
landless and have been forced to migrate to different parts of the country in search of
alternative sources of livelihood. Due to frequent floods of violent nature many houses,
properties and community infrastructure are damaged on regular basis and there is loss of
human and animal life. To put it in the language of current developmental paradigm, a
riverine system which was a trademark and assurance for promotion of sustainable
development in its social, economic, environmental and cultural dimensions, has for many,
turned out to be a cause of their untenable development. Although certain steps are
undertaken to minimize the losses of life and property of people in the form of embankment
etc., it is observed to be inadequate, adhoc, piecemeal, and unsatisfactory.To reduce the
devastating effect and to continue to realise its benevolence on the socioeconomic life;
immediate, short term and long term measures in the form of environmentally, economically,
socially and culturally sustainable measures need to be taken up by all the relevant stake
holders that includes the Government, the industrial houses, the affected and affecting
communities and the civil society.Since the current and potential socioeconomic
developmental outcomes centred on Brahmaputra are inextricably linked to the social,
economic, political, cultural and environmental dynamics of Assamese society, an all-out
holistic multi stakeholder based approach would be the appropriate response.
9. Specific Suggestions
In the light of above analysis, discussion and findings we would like to propose the following
specific suggestions to restore the lifeline status of River Brahmaputra in the economy of
Assam:
(i) To arrest negative impact of frequent floods and change of the course of the river
modern science & technology needs to be supplemented with traditional local
knowledge and practices.
(ii) Since riverbank vegetation has a crucial role to play in stabilizing bank sediments to
reduce erosion, and provides a shield between the river and the rest of the
catchments, efforts should be made to protect the existing vegetation and create new
vegetation through plantation wherever it does not exist. Involvement of the local
inhabitants in this exercise is a must.
(iii) Infrastructure in Ghats has to be developed for smooth movement of people and
vehicles.
(iv) At tourist spots, star and budget hotels need to be constructed to attract more tourists.
For example, at Majuli there is no single standard hotel/resort for overnight stay by
the tourist.
(v) A nominal river bank environment development fee can be imposed on every tourist
and tourist vehicles entering the river islands. This fee should be included on the
price of the tickets sold at the ferry ghats/ports. The state Government and local
bodies can think of imposing a Brahmaputra development fee from different users
and beneficiaries to be exclusively used for the development of vegetation and
environment on the banks of the river.
(vi) Similarly, provision of river bank vegetation bonus can be introduced by Government
to be awarded to local river bank communities to encourage an element of healthy
completion amongst them.
(vii) Programmes and policies of flood management and prevention of river bank erosion
need to be converged across Departments and stake holders.
(viii) Industrial units that have been identified and shown in the findings section and
discharging their effluents in to the river must be held accountable. A four pronged
strategy of appropriate tax/fee imposition, legislation, administrative stipulations
and moral persuasion should be undertaken.
(ix) Since the settlers in char areas mostly dependent on cultivation of land for their
livelihood this creates excessive pressure on land. Thus immediate measures need to
be taken at the level of Government and NGOs to provide the settlers with
alternative non-agricultural job opportunities.
(x) As the Char settlers also suffer from vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment,
external intervention through Government and other civil society agencies is
necessary. The specific interventions should be in the field of education and health.
(xi) The last socioeconomic survey for the Char areas was undertaken in 2003-04. Hence
there is a need to immediately undertake a fresh socioeconomic survey for these
areas.
(xii) Since the gap between demand and supply of fish in Assam is huge, and the river
Brahmaputra and its tributaries provide ample scope of fish cultivation, concerted
effort must be made to exploit this untapped potential. The Institution of Fish
Federation particularly should be efficiently leveraged at the grass root level in this
context.
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Table 1: Socio-Demographic Profile of Assam, 2011 and 2001
Sl.
No. Variable
Year
2011 2001
1 Actual Population 31,205,576 26,655,528
2 Male 15,939,443 13,777,037
3 Female 15,266,133 12,878,491
4 Population Growth 17.07% 18.85%
5 Population as a parent of All India Population 2.58% 2.59%
6 Sex Ratio 958 935
7 Density/km2 398 340
8 Literacy 72.19 % 63.25 %
9 Male Literacy 77.85 % 71.28 %
10 Female Literacy 66.27 % 54.61 %
11 Urbanisation 14.08 12.90
Source: Census of India, 2011 and 2001
Table 2: Trend and Sectoral Contribution of GSDPof Assam at Constant (2004-05)
Prices(₹ in lakhs)
Sl.
No. Sector 2004-05 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
1 Agriculture & Allied 1365566 2873235 3024579 3203456 3720595
2 Mining & Quarrying 467925 711900 816017 826489 791185
3 Primary Sector (=1+2) 1833491 3585135 3840596 4029945 4511780
4 Secondary Sector 1002584 2135184 2399902 2466523 2715621
5 Industry (=2+4) 1470509 2847084 3215919 3293012 3506806
6 Tertiary Sector 2503696 5548477 6349809 7343619 8718631
7 GSDP (=3+4+6) 5339771 11268796 12590307 13840087 15946032
8 State Per Capita Income
(₹) 18993 37053 40890 44406 50558
Source: Economic Survey, Assam 2014-15, Govt. of Assam.
Table 3: Changing Pattern of Land Use for Adaptation of Flood inAssam
District Net Sown Area
Area Sown more than
Once Fallow Land
1950-51 1975-76 2010-11 1950-51 1975-76 2010-11 1950-51 1975-76 2010-11
Cachar 26.22 30.71 32.29 5.21 10.35 11.56 9.70 6.70 5.10
Goalpara 23.39 37.62 40.51 10.25 15.33 18.20 4.40 2.60 1.90
Kamrup 42.23 46.00 52.12 14.20 23.65 24.10 2.10 3.30 2.80
Darrang 30.46 40.44 42.40 4.20 9.400 10.16 10.10 3.40 2.90
Nagaon 43.37 45.41 48.14 5.10 8.61 10.20 5.50 2.80 2.50
Sibsagar 30.42 40.56 48.54 2.10 3.50 4.20 15.40 5.70 3.60
Lakhimpur 19.41 27.86 30.80 2.00 4.60 6.20 5.16 3.50 2.90
Dibrugarh 29.31 38.93 46.22 NA NA NA 7.26 3.86 3.20
Source: Govt. of Assam, Statistical Handbook, Assam 2014 & 2012.
Table 4: Brahmaputra, its Tributaries and Use of their Surface Water
Sl.
No. Districts City/Town River Use of Surface Water
1 Tinsukia Sakhowaghat
Brahmaputra
Ferry services, melon farming, cattle wading, transport
2 Dibrugarh Nagagholli,
Maizan
Cultivation of tea garden, cattle wading, dredging, sand
recovery, ferry ghat, fishing, transport, forestry.
3 Sibsagar Desangmukh Vegetable cultivation, cattle wading, bathing, washing,
fishing
4 Jorhat Nimatighat Cattle wading, ferry services, bathing, washing,
Kakilamukh Bird Sanctuary, Forestry.
5 Golaghat, Dhanbari Sand recovery, fishing, bathing, boating, cultivation,
forestry, discharge of NRL effluents.
6 Guwahati, Saraighat Ferry services, cattle wading, sand recovery, fishing,
bathing, washing, boating and human settlement
7 Bongaigaon Goalpara Cattle wading, sand recovery, fishing, bathing,
washing, drinking, ferry transport.
8 Dhubri Dhubri Cattle wading, sand recovery, fishing, bathing,
washing, cultivation.
9 Kamrup
Metro Sadilapur
Boating, bathing, discharge of refinery effluents
(NRL), town runoffs, water discharge, vegetable
cultivation, cattle wading, fishing, jetty.
10 North
Lakhimpur Gerukamukh
Subansiri
Dam construction for Hydro-electric power generation.
11 North
Lakhimpur Chaowlohoaghat
Cattle wading, sand recovery, washing, bathing and
fishing etc.
12 North
Lakhimpur
Alichiga,
Bordubi
Fishing, paddy farming, forestry, melon farming, cattle
wading
13 Tinsukia Margherita
Buridihing
Sand recovery, bathing, washing, stone crushing unit,
domestic sewage disposal through surface run offs, Tea
gardens on opposite bank.
14 Dibrugarh
Gammon
Dullang,
Khowang
Grazing, bathing, run offs from upper Assam Industrial
areas of oil and coal fields, vegetable farming, paddy
cultivation, fishing, sand recovery, Jokai Reserve
wildlife.
15 Sibsagar Dihingmukh Vegetable farming, bathing, washing, fishing, boating
etc., paddy fields.
16 Dibrugarh Lalpagarighat
Disang
Water body receives effluents of HFC, surface run offs
from Namrup Industrial township, vegetable
cultivation, stone collection, ferry services.
17 Sibsagar Rajabari Cattle wading, sand recovery, washing, bathing,
fishing, grazing cattle
18 Sibsagar Sepaigaon
Receives HFC effluents, vegetable cultivation, cattle
wading, sand recovery, boat transport, bathing and
washing activities, wildlife, paddy cultivation
19 Lakhimpur Alichiga,
Bordubi Subansiri
Fishing, paddy farming, forestry, melon farming, cattle
wading
20 North
Lakhimpur Chaowlohoaghat
Cattle wading, sand recovery, washing, bathing and
fishing etc.
21 Sonitpur Bhoomuraguri,
Tejpur
Brahmaputra
Vegetable, paddy cultivation, bathing, washing, fishing
and boating, open defaecation, wildlife
22 Bongaigaon Jogighopa
Water Intake of Jogighopa Paper Mill, coal transport
by ship and boats, cremation, mustard vegetable
cultivation, fishing, open defaecation, paddy field,
human settlement.
Source:Govt. of India, Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Delhi, 2005
Table 5: Use of Brahmaputra and its Tributaries by Major Industries
Sl.
No. Place/City/Town Industry Type of Use
1 Guwahati Guwahati Refinery Discharges of treated effluent
directly into the river
2 Sadilapur,
Guwahati Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) Discharge of refinery effluents
3 Gammon Dullang,
Khowang
Upper Assam Industrial
Areas of oil and Coal fields.
Discharge of industrial and
mining effluents
4 Namrup
Brahmaputra Valley
Fertilizer, Assam
Petrochemicals Ltd., ONGCL
drilling
Discharge of effluents of
HFC, surface run offs
5 Dhanbari Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) Discharge of effluents.
6 Jogighopa Jogighopa Paper Mill Water Intake, discharge of
effluents
Source: Govt. of India, Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forest, 2005.
Table 6: Ports and Ferry Ghats in Different Districts in Assam
Sl. No. District Ports/Ferry Ghats Km.
1
Kamrup
Sukhleshwar Ferry Terminal 2.1
2 Majgaon Ferry Ghat 2.7
3 Ferry Ghat 5.0
4 IWT Terminal Pandu Port 11.5
5 Inland Port 12.6
6 Barpeta Ferry Boating 129.5
7 Sonitpur LaukhoaFeriGhat 164.8
8
Jorhat
Brahmaputra FerryMajuli 383.6
9 NimatiKamalabari Ferry Ghat 398.2
10 Dibrugarh Bogbil Ferry 466.5
Source: <http://maps.mapmyindia.com/explore/sea+port-in-guwahati-assam>
Table 7: No. of Fleets and Workers in Inland Water Transport in Assam
Passenger Ferry Vessel Nos. Commercial Vessel Nos. Workers Nos.
Steel Vessel 45 Pushur Tug 04 Regular Staff
(Technical) 1384
Wooden Boat 35 Terminal Facility &
Barges 35
Regular Staff (Non-
Technical) 2948
Pontoon 25 River Cruise (VIP) 03 M.R. Workers 1012
Shallow Draft Boat
(Steel & wooden) 50
River Cruise (S.D.
Boat) 03 Total Workers 5344
Country Boat (Wooden) 07 Motor Tug 02
Total Passenger Ferry
Vessel 162
Total Commercial
Vessel 47
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Transport, Inland Water Transport, Dispur, 2012.
Table 8: Cargo and Transportation of Passengers and Cars in Assam
Transportation of Cargo
Transportation of Passenger and Car
Down Stream Cargo Up Stream Cargo
Forest Product Food Grain Passenger (Nos.) 76,56,881
Stone Boulder Fertilizer Motor Cycle (Nos.) 6,27,496
Paper Iron, Steel &Cement Bicycle (Nos.) 9,12,178
Lime Stone & Dolomite Bitumen LMV (Nos.) 18,758
Petroleum Product ODC Cart/Rickshaw (Nos.) 4,045
Coal Industrial Raw Material Auto Van (Nos.) 6,000
Tea Animals (Nos.) 18,191
Crude Oil Cargo (MT) 39,746
Lube Oil
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Transport, Inland Water Transport, Dispur, 2012.
Table 9: Small Hydro Schemes in Northeast Region
State
Site Identified
(3 MW)
Site Identified
(3-15 MW) Total
Nos. Capacity Nos. Capacity Nos. Capacity
Arunachal Pradesh 433 382.31 49 460.72 482 843.03
Assam 38 50.00 8 68.00 46 118.00
Manipur 91 59.75 4 29.88 95 89.63
Meghalaya 83 41.00 13 97.50 96 138.50
Mizoram 73 42.32 13 101.00 86 143.32
Nagaland 67 26.89 17 117.50 84 144.39
Tripura 8 9.85 - - 8 9.85
Total 793 612.12 104 874.60 897 1486.72
Source: North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited, Shillong, Meghalaya.
Table 10: Major Tourism Hot Spots along the Bank of River Brahmaputra
Sl.
No. City/Town/ Place Major Attractions
1 Guwahati Gateway to the north east, Kamakhya temple, River Crusoe and
the temple Umananda.
2 Hajo Religious places prime being Hayagrib Madhab Temple &Pao
mecca
3 Chandubi Natural lagoon & fine picnic spot
4 Sualkuchi Famous for Assam Silk industries(muga& pat)
5 Madan kamdev Magnificent archaeological ruins
6 Pobitora A small wildlife sanctuary
7 Batadrawa Birth place of Shri Sankardeva
8 Laokhowa Wildlife sanctuary
9 Pobha Wildlife sanctuary
10 Dibrusaikhowa Bird sanctuary
11 Garampani Hot water spring
12 Barpetasatra Religious place for Vaishnavas
13 Manas The only tiger project in Assam
14 Orang Wildlife sanctuary
15 Nameri National park
16 Bhalukpung Eco camp at jai bhoroli
17 Tezpur Famous for Da –parbatiyaBamuni Hills Agnigarh
18 Majuli Largest river island in the World, Vaishnava Satras, Boating
19 Kaziranga Oldest national park in the State, home of one horned Rhino
Source:Mahindra Acres Consulting Engineers Ltd. (MACE) Chennai (2002).
Table 11: Number of Tourists to Assam and Revenue Earned
Year Indian Tourists Foreign
Tourists
Total
Tourists
Total Revenue earned from Tourist
Lodges only (₹ in lakh)
2006-07 3479870 13657 3493527 81.3
2007-08 3489814 13799 3503613 94.99
2008-09 3698706 14533 3713239 103.92
2009-10 3895525 14694 3910219 131.63
2010-11 4127447 15633 4143080 143.6
2011-12 4408336 16660 4424996 184.49
2012-13 4544666 17708 4562374 248.19
2013-14 4444393 19086 4463479 191.32
Source: Economic Survey Assam, 2014-15, Govt. of Assam; Note: Tourists who have stayed in tourist lodges
and other accommodations.
Table 12: Fishery Resources in Assam, 2014-15
Sl. No. Types of Fisheries Number Water Spread Areas
1 River Fisheries 55 4820 Km.
2 Beels 1197 100815ha.
3 Forest Fisheries 71 5017 ha.
4 Derelict Water
Bodies/Swamp 3887 116444ha.
5 Reservoir Fisheries 2 2553ha.
6 Ponds and Tank 368014 60391ha.
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Fishery, Dispur.
Table 13: Trend of Fish Seed and Fish Production in Assam
Year
Fish Seed Production
(In million nos.)
Fish Production
(In thousand tons)
Target Achievement Target Achievement
2007-08 2800 3206 200.00 190.00
2008-09 3000 3429 210.00 206.00
2009-10 3500 3326 225.00 218.00
2010-11 4300 4264 235.00 232.00
2011-12 4300 4490 250.00 243.87
2012-13 4500 4364 255.00 254.27
2013-14 4500 4546 265.00 267.00
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Fishery, Dispur.
Table 14: Fish & Fish Seed (Fry) Production during the Year 2014-15
Sl.
No. District
Production of Fish Seed
(In million nos.)
Production of Fish
(In tons)
1 Barpeta 2328.33 18730
2 Baksa 47.02 5961
3 Bongaigaon 18.50 7210
4 Cachar 10.00 22050
5 Chirang 109.15 2010
6 Darrang 24.07 10050
7 Dhemaji 17.00 5510
8 Dhubri 13.9 14.69
9 Dibrugarh 22.70 10660
10 Goalpara 117.50 7960
11 Golaght 30.05 8603
12 Hailakandi 212.92 10680
13 Jorhat 8.16 13720
14 Kamrup 127.65 22150
15 KarbiAnglong 0.00 2290
16 Karimganj 90.00 17750
17 Kokrajhar 45.70 4100
18 Lakhimpur 29.90 12850
19 Morigaon 63.77 13950
20 N.C. Hills 0.00 790120.3
21 Nagaon 1174.50 29896
22 Nalbari 8.60 11340
23 Sibsagar 29.81 11260
24 Sonitpur 19.48 8160
25 Tinsukia 15.75 15.75
26 Udalguri 25.00 2101
Total 4585.07 282700
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Fishery, Dispur.
Table 15: No. of Beelsand Water Area under Beelsin Assam
District
Un Registered Beels No. Beels under AFDC
No. of Beels Water Area (ha)
Barpeta 40 459.70
Bongaigaon 44 356.92
Cachar 105 3270.50
Darrang 09 233.00
Dhemaji 32 219.66
Dhubri 42 603.40
Dibrugarh 3 127.00
Goalpara 63 848.80
Golaghat 61 570.10
Hailakandi Nil Nil
Jorhat 111 1347.19
Kamrup 183 2929.75
KarbiAng-long 17 57.78
Karimganj 67 1608.46
Kokrajhar 51 444.69
Lakhimpur 12 364.90
Morigaon 97 902.97
N.C. Hills 08 3.06
Nalbari 14 367.00
Nagaon 191 1859.47
Sibsagar 160 5193.64
Sonitpur 45 251.57
Tinsukia 32 434.67
Baksa 06 70.00
All Assam 1393 22524.23 192
Source: Govt. of Assam, Department of Fishery, Dispur.
Table 16: Annual Average Flood Damages in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam
Period
Annually flooded
area (million
hectares)
Flooded
crop as a
% of total
inundated
Affected
no. of
population
Affected
population
per ha of
flooded
area
Damages
(million
rupees*)
Value of
crop lost
as % of
total
damages Total Cropped
1953-59 1.13 0.10 8.85 860,000 0.8 58.6 66
1960-69 0.75 0.16 21.33 1,520,000 2.0 75.7 92
1970-79 0.87 0.18 20.69 2,000,000 2.3 151.8 89
1980-88 1.43 0.40 28.05 4,550,000 3.2 1,455.2 96
1999-
2005 1.07 0.38 35.65 4,586,000 4.3 7,171.7 34
Source: Govt. of Assam, Water Resources Department, Dispur. *Inflation unadjusted.
Table 17: Selected Statistics of the Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (I)
District
No. of
Char
Villages
Total
Population
Land* Literacy
(%)
B.P.L.
Population
(%) Total
Land
Cultivable
Land
Kamrup 175 154508 17162 11654 15.16 68.00
Nalbari 32 83602 13432 8996 16.24 68.36
Barpeta 277 268344 36655 24736 17.63 66.78
Goalpara 179 186826 19860 13728 13.65 68.57
Bongaigaon 117 135809 14256 9520 12.46 67.50
Dhubri 480 689909 99898 67124 14.60 69.00
Darrang 134 142405 16756 11239 12.34 66.94
Morigaon 39 91324 11932 7954 18.50 67.00
Nagaon 43 89803 12036 8056 17.59 66.79
Jorhat 293 215095 42174 28016 60.55 64.00
Sonitpur 145 145729 24168 16410 16.93 68.00
Lakhimpur 109 143235 21523 14451 18.50 69.02
Dhemaji 149 91203 16976 11347 15.69 70.93
Tinsukia 79 52605 14094 9496 14.00 68.90
TOTAL 2251 2490397 360927 242277 19.31 67.90
Source: Socio-Economic Survey Report, 2003-04, Directorate of Char Areas Development, Govt. of Assam;
* Land in hectare.
Table 18: Selected Statistics of the Char Areas in Assam, 1992-93
District
No. of
Char
Villages
Total
Population
Land* Literacy
(%)
B.P.L.
Population
(%) Total
Land
Cultivable
Land
Kamrup 148 105687 5401.72 3781.20 16.85 53.0
Nalbari 58 62892 8558.97 5500.58 7.90 54.2
Barpeta 351 275525 27881.36 19516.95 12.90 55.0
Goalpara 187 130007 11623.45 8136.41 8.38 53.2
Bongaigaon 150 110215 11367.00 7956.90 12.85 54.0
Dhubri 313 233206 86925.22 60847.65 19.06 54.2
Darrang 121 135876 6661.36 4662.95 10.12 55.0
Morigaon 41 55581 6804.66 4763.26 8.02 52.5
Nagaon 29 45161 3265.25 2285.67 9.44 55.0
Jorhat 210 141901 5576.38 3903.46 31.90 25.0
Sonitpur 118 92061 24014.06 20309.84 12.63 43.0
Lakhimpur 182 110200 12069.51 8455.65 14.01 49.0
Dhemaji 95 68998 13517.00 9461.90 14.44 46.8
Tinsukia 86 33034 10324.00 7226.80 14.20 34.5
TOTAL 2089 1600244 239000.00 167300.00 15.45 48.90
Source: Socio-Economic Survey Report, 1992-93, Char Areas Development Authority, Govt. of Assam; * Land
in hectare.
Table 19: Selected Statistics of Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (II)
Sl.
No. District
Total
Family
(Nos.)
BPL Family Literacy
(%)
No. of Educational Institutions
Nos. Percentage LP M.E. High H.S. College
1 Kamrup 27834 18954 68.00 15.16 107 17 5 1 1
2 Nalbari 16103 11008 68.36 16.24 61 18 12 - -
3 Barpeta 45792 30680 66.78 17.63 288 80 28 1 2
4 Goalpara 30136 20644 68.57 13.65 142 58 14 - 2
5 Bongaigaon 27813 18775 67.50 12.46 103 39 9 - 1
6 Dhubri 109748 75725 69.00 14.60 315 116 37 2 2
7 Darrang 29617 19827 66.94 12.34 105 11 3 -
8 Morigaon 18129 12146 67.00 18.50 43 5 2 - -
9 Nagaon 17920 11969 66.79 17.59 28 9 2 - -
10 Jorhat 35316 22602 64.00 60.55 423 138 90 4 8
11 Sonitpur 23428 15931 68.00 16.93 88 29 4 - -
12 Lakhimpur 23096 15940 69.02 18.50 93 35 10 - -
13 Dhemaji 19112 13566 70.93 15.69 40 8 1 - -
14 Tinsukia 10670 7352 68.90 14.00 16 11 1 - -
15 TOTAL 434714 295119 67.90 19.31 1852 574 218 8 16
Source: Socio-Economic Survey Report, 2003-04, Directorate of Char Areas Development, Govt. of Assam.
Table 20: Selected Statistics of Char Areas in Assam, 2003-04 (III)
Sl. No. District Medical Facilities (Nos.)
P.H.C. Dispensary Sub-Centre
1 Kamrup 1 - 8
2 Nalbari 4 - 5
3 Barpeta 5 - 20
4 Goalpara 1 - 14
5 Bongaigaon 5 - 5
6 Dhubri 14 - 23
7 Darrang 2 - 8
8 Morigaon 5 - 6
9 Nagaon 4 - 4
10 Jorhat 8 - 16
11 Sonitpur 1 - 7
12 Lakhimpur 1 - 6
13 Dhemaji 1 - 4
14 Tinsukia - - 6
15 TOTAL 52 - 132
Source: Socio-Economic Survey Report, 2003-04, Directorate of Char Areas Development, Govt. of Assam.
Table 21: Annual Average Rate of River Bank Erosion
Period Rate of Erosion (km2/year)
1972-2001 6.92
2001-2004 2.47
2004-2008 5.48
2008-2010 3.34
Source: Gogoi and Borpujari, 2014.
Table 22: Changing Pattern of Occupation of Workers
Sl.
No. Occupation type
Percentage of workers engaged
1971 1991 2001 2011
1 Cultivators 78.38 80.85 31.65 74.00
3 Household Industrial Workers 04.02 03.14 02.40 03.00
4 Other Workers 17.60 16.01 65.95 23.00
Source: Authors’ calculation based on various Census reports of GOI.
Table 23: A Conservative Model of An Average Daily Economy in the River Bank at
Dhubri
Sl.
No. Nature of Activity
No./
Persons
operating
Volume/
No./
Value
Rate/
Unit
Price
Gross
Revenue
(₹)
Gross
Profit (₹)
1
Daily Commutation of
people (average) through
ferries
150 ferries 10000
persons
₹ 40
(to &
fro)
400000 400000
2 Retail Sale of commodities
by vendors on the river bank 300 shops - - 12000000 1200000
3
Transportation of
commodities meant for
onward transportation to
different places within the
district, outside the state,
other districts and to
Bangladesh.
50 ferries 3000000 - 20000000 2000000
4 Transportation of Bamboo 40 dealers 12000 60 720000 280000
5 Employment of people in
ferry services 600
6 Employment of people in
Bamboo transportation 700
7
Direct Employment of
people in retail shops along
the river bank
600
8
Employment of people
(petty traders) who
commute from surrounding
islands, regions for sale and
purchase of various other
products
700
9
Indirect employment created
in the town and surrounding
villages and regions
5000
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 24: Basic Profile of Surveyed Villages
Village Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Total Households 72 78 63 213
SC Households 0 27 5 32
ST Households 0 0 0 0
OBC Households 0 43 15 58
Total Population 333 332 309 974
Literacy (%) 66.67 96.87 89.71 84.42
Infrastructure Facilities 33.33 41.67 58.33 44.44
Dependency on
Brahmaputra 83.33 100.00 83.33 88.89
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 25: Economic Activity Profile of Surveyed Villages centred on Brahmaputra
Village/
Activity
Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh) All Villages
Cultivation 76.39 50.00 53.97 59
Fishing 13.89 23.08 17.46 18
Boatman & Worker 9.72 15.38 15.87 13
Log Collector 0.00 11.54 0.00 4
Others 0.00 0.00 17.46 6
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 26: Land Owned and Land Lost by Households
Land (In bighas)/ Village Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Land Owned 7.13 11.53 6.83 8.50
Land Lost during the last
five years 1.53 2.07 1.53 1.71
Land possessed before 5
years 8.66 13.60 8.36 10.21
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 27: Source wise Annual Income of Households (₹)
Village/Source Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Cultivation 313000 495500 285000 1093500
Fishing 44000 32000 149000 225000
Business 55000 67000 85000 207000
Animal Rearing 3000 23000 11000 37000
Handloom 0 56000 7000 63000
Wage Labourer 10000 0 88000 98000
Service 0 1260000 300000 1560000
Total 425000 1933500 925000 3283500
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 28: Source wise Percentage of Households Benefitting from River
Village/
Source
Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Alluvial Soil 87 93 87 88
Irrigation 80 90 87 86
Travel by Boat 93 100 80 91
Household Activities 100 100 93 98
All Sources 90 96 87 91
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 29: Source wise Damages of Households (₹)
Village/
Source
Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Land 330000 505000 240000 1075000
Crop 250000 555000 320000 1125000
House 180000 0 130000 310000
Cowshed 40000 0 25000 65000
Boat 60000 0 20000 80000
Toilet 35000 0 15000 50000
Animal 5000 10000 4000 19000
Total 900000 1070000 754000 2724000
Source: Authors’ Survey.
Table 30: Average Standard of Living of A Household and Liability (₹)
Village/
Item
Motishwar
(Dhubri)
Bhattapara
(Guwahati)
MyjanNatunGaon
(Dibrugarh)
All
Villages
Food Expenses 3067 5267 4067 4134
Non-Food Expenses 1667 3533 2467 2556
Total Expenses 4733 8800 6533 6689
Saving 967 4200 1033 2067
Outstanding Loan* 5333 6667 4667 5556
Source: Authors’ Survey; * Outstanding loans pertain to the whole year.
