Paper details

Paper authors	Mausumi Chetia
In panel on	Climate Change and Humanitarianism
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

People displaced within the borders of their country are technically, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and hence are to be protected and assisted in accordance with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the prevailing normative framework. The Cancun Agreement (2010) for the first time in the history of climate change negotiations under UNFCCC called for action taking into account measures “in regard to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation, where appropriate, at the national, regional and international levels;”

Assam, one of the eight northeastern states of India is drained by the dense networks of two river systems viz. the Brahmaputra system and the Barak system. Both these river systems are international in their extensions and go out to Bangladesh. According to hydrological experts, 45 percent of Assam’s total landmass is prone to flooding by the Brahmaputra. Riverbank erosion destroys an annual average of about 8,000 hectares of riparian land along the Brahmaputra (Water Resources Dept., GoA). As per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority [ASDMA], total landmass eroded from 1954 till date is approximately 3,86,476 Hectares; which equals 7% of the land of the State’s 17 riverine districts, lost due to riverbank erosion in the last 50 years. Although a recurring hazard, river-bank erosion is not an officially recognized ‘disaster’ as per the Disaster Management Act [2005] of India .
Glacier retreat and changes in precipitation patterns has also increased flood flows as waters that would have remained trapped on the glacier are release which in its wake create greater inundation and river bank erosion in the region (Sharma et al 2005). The de-glaciation process also releases extremely high volumes of sediment that are accumulated within the Brahmaputra River along with several sediment rich tributaries and the seismically active hill ranges surrounding the Basin intensifying the rate of river bank erosion (Pahuja and Goswami 2006; Chaudhari and Sinha 1999; Sarma 2005). All the states of Northeast Indian region comes under seismic zone IV. Scholars have argued that in comparison to the energy and speed with which the State is implementing massive hydroelectricity projects in the mountains surrounding the upper reach of the Brahmaputra valley, even a bare minimum interest is not shown in understanding and addressing the problem of erosion and the consequences that come along with it. In this context, this paper asks to what extent does climate change plays a role in causing riverbank erosion in Assam’s context? Is riverbank erosion a purely ‘natural’ process? Or is it a policy rhetoric used to sway the locus of responsibility of the State vis-à-vis people affected by riverbank erosion? The paper will be based on review of secondary literature and previous fieldwork experiences in the region; along with a careful examination of relevant policy documents.

Key Words: Internal Displacement, Climate-change, Disasters, Riverbank Erosion, Internally Displaced People, Policy Frameworks

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