Holding back tears, Dhemaji families torn apart by floods bear silent burden of climate displacement

Dhemaji: "Will our house still be standing when we return some day? What about the land?"

Lakhisekhi Bara's ears ring with these questions from her husband every day. Questions to which she has no answer.

Bara (52) moved to Assam's Dhemaji from a neighbouring district with her daughter-in-law when the 2023 floods rendered them homeless while the men of the family migrated to Chennai to work as construction labourers.

The two women are among several to have been left behind in the district by the men in their families who moved to other states due to climate-induced income loss.

"We used to work in the farmland but agriculture has become unpredictable while daily wage work is not regularly available. It was not possible to run the household with this income. As a result, my husband and our son moved to Chennai two years ago. We moved to Dhemaji because other women from our extended family live here and we can be there for each other in times of need," she said.

"Whenever my husband calls, he wonders if our land will be safe to resume agriculture some day. What if it is completely washed away? That is our only asset," she said.

Among the country's 250 most backward districts, Dhemaji is severely flood-prone. Official estimates suggest more than 23 lakh people in 28 districts of Assam have been affected by floods.

The unpredictable Brahmaputra river -- originating in the Tibetan Plateau and flowing through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam before emptying into the Bay of Bengal -- shapes the state's flood landscape.

During a visit to Bara's village, this PTI correspondent could barely spot a working-age man. Most of the men still left in the village were either senior citizens or children.

Roopa Baruah (32) lives in a ‘chang ghar' -- a temporary home built on bamboo stilts -- with her two children, aged four and six, while their pucca house built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna lies abandoned.

Her husband works in a Bengaluru rubber factory and hasn't been back for two years.

"The pucca house is located in a far-flung spot in the village. If it gets submerged, I cannot rush out on my own with the children. So I live in a ‘chang ghar' here with other women nearby. Sometimes, if my children are ill, it is easier to get help here," she said.

"My husband sends money. He asks if we will be able to live together in our house some day. The children miss their father but what can we do when there are no income sources here? If we also migrate, it will be expensive and our house here may be gone forever," she said.

The majority of Dhemaji's residents live in ‘chang ghars', with their livestock kept below. During floods, however, the animals have to be accommodated inside to save them from being washed away.

When living at home becomes perilous, they move away from the embankment and return after the waters recede.

A working-age man, Bokul moved back to Dhemaji four months ago after losing an arm in a factory accident in Kerala. He now lives with the women of the family.

"Most of the men have left the village to make a living in other states. It is mostly the elderly or those with disabilities, like me, who live here since we cannot go out to earn. I help my wife and my brother's wife, who lives here with her three-year-old son. Nobody wants to migrate but there is no choice," the 26-year-old said.

Rebuilding homes, collecting firewood, fishing, stitching and weaving for pittances, besides helping children and livestock adjust to a new place as floods render them homeless every year are among the changing roles women in the district perform due to the migration of men that has increased their vulnerability and workload.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, researchers studying the climate-induced migration from the district believe Dhemaji serves as a compelling case due to its extreme vulnerability to environmental changes, particularly flooding.

The study is being funded by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and Population Council.

According to IIT, Guwahati, professor Anamika Baruah, who is leading the study, recurrent floods lead to displacement, erosion, prolonged waterlogging and the destruction of livelihood -- especially agriculture, the district's economic backbone.

"Climate change further intensifies these challenges, increasing the frequency and the severity of floods, resulting in both seasonal and permanent displacement. Beyond the environmental impact, the socio-economic consequences in Dhemaji are substantial," she said.

Debarchana Biswas, a postdoctoral scholar at IIT, Guwahati, says most workers from Assam, particularly districts such as Dhemaji, are not happy migrating to other parts of the country despite recognising its economic benefits.

"For many, migration is seen as a positive step toward improving their financial situation but, deep down, leaving behind their families, homes and familiar surroundings is emotionally challenging. Migration, while providing better wages, comes with the emotional and logistical burden of maintaining two households," she said, citing the study.

"This dual responsibility is financially and emotionally draining. Moreover, during emergencies, their inability to quickly return home exacerbates their sense of helplessness," she said.

The 2021 Climate Vulnerability Index ranked Assam as India's most climate-vulnerable state. The expansive Brahmaputra and Barak river basins, Assam's fast-dwindling green cover and northeast India's overall geoecological fragility are a few reasons behind the vulnerability.

Improved plans and programmes are being implemented for disaster risk reduction in hazard-prone areas compared to previous years, says environmental scientist Partha Jyoti Das.

He said, "High-vulnerability groups like women, the elderly and marginalised communities should get more attention in disaster risk reduction policies. Although we have many policies and programmes on paper to address such concerns, the vulnerable people somehow do not get the desired benefit of such interventions to the expected extent -- indicating execution deficit and lack of monitoring of government projects and welfare schemes."

Das, who heads the Water, Climate and Hazard division at Aranyak -- a research organisation -- notes outwards migration of youngsters from rural areas is usually considered a useful strategy to cope with the negative impact of climate-induced hazards. The remittances they send back is also crucial for survival and sustenance of their families in a hazard-prone environment.

"However, labour out-migration also has some negative impacts. We have seen wives and girls bearing more burden of family responsibilities such as looking after parents, in-laws and children. The women must also take care of family vocations such as farming, livestock rearing and other such means of income generation," he added.

Luit Goswami, executive director at Rural Volunteers Centre -- a non-profit working in the region -- says Dhemaji is extremely vulnerable to climate change due to its proximity to the confluence of the Brahmaputra and many of its tributaries.

"However, like most developing regions, climate change issues have received less importance here and efforts are more focused on recovery than creation of adaptive capacity," he said.

"The forced displacement due to climate extremes leads to distress migration, which has largely been accepted as an adaptation strategy by the families and the communities affected," he added.

The responsibilities of women seem to be soaring they ensure the rights of children such as survival (food and nutrition, health care), development (education) and protection (early marriage, child labour, child-trafficking, drug abuse), he says. "All these lead to physical and mental health deterioration."