Assam Flood Yet to Grab Attention Of Mainstream Media

By: Himashree Deka

“Mumbai rains: Downpour brings Mumbai on its knees again, 35 killed across Maharashtra,

Mumbai rains: Large parts of city receive heavy rainfall,

In 44 years, Mumbai receives second highest rainfall in 24

Mumbai floods, famed never-say-die spirit floats”

(A few headlines on Mumbai Rain)

The “Maya Nagari”, Mumbai has been brought to a standstill due to the incessant rain following the monsoon season.

As is the “Maya Nagari”, so is it’s flood. The flood in Mumbai has been heavily covered by the mainstream media that which has not missed a single glimpse of this tragedy. From the nook and corner of every state of the country, people have watched the footage of the Mumbai flood.

On the other hand, towards the easternmost part of the country, the state of Assam has been facing the same heat for decades. Over the past several years, the flood in Assam has become a part of the identity for the people belonging to this part of the country.

However, the mainstream media is yet to highlight the plight of the people of this part of India. Over 62,000 people have been affected across various districts in the state, it has been reported. In the report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 145 villages are underwater and 3,435 hectares of crop areas have been affected so far, leading to severe distress for the agricultural community in the state.

Also Read : Cool Plasma Gasification Technology: The Innovation That Could Save Assam's Deepor Beel

Also, as many as 86,536 thousand people have been rendered landless due to soil erosion in the last five years in Assam.

Although MPs like Biswajit Daimary and Pradyut Bordoloi have been raising their voices in the Parliamentary sessions to declare flood as a 'national issue, the voices were left unheard. The “Look East, Act East” policy of the Narendra Modi government could not draw the attention of the mainstream media to look and act for the people’s plight in the east.

Similarly, the flood of Assam did not move to the headlines in the mainstream media channels from the regular tickers.

Inside Northeast’s Campaign #LetsSaveDeeporBeel is now supported by Oil India Limited (OIL). Join us as we continue the awareness campaign to preserve the only Ramsar site in Assam which is facing immense threats. We need your help to preserve this site of great ecological importance. Join the #LetsSaveDeeporBeel campaign and tweet about it, and do tag us on Twitter. Let’s make some noise!

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