‘It was a tsunami’: Floods leave death trail in India’s Assam

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported from Assam, India, on the deadly floods that struck the state after intense rains between July 18 and 20 sent swollen rivers and landslides downstream from the Naga Hills in neighbouring Nagaland. The article describes widespread destruction across Upper Assam, including ruined villages, washed-away rice fields, and heavy loss of life and property. State authorities said more than 100 people were killed, 2,700 villages were damaged, and about 700,000 people were displaced, while 1.2 million were affected overall.

The story focuses on personal accounts from residents in Sivasagar district, where one labourer, Debiram Panika, lost his wife and one daughter after floodwaters tore through their bamboo-and-mud home. Another child survived after holding onto a bamboo bush and being rescued by neighbours. Local residents and volunteers described using boats and rooftops to save people as floodwaters surged through their communities.

Al Jazeera also reported debate over whether the disaster was purely natural or worsened by human activity. Some residents, an opposition politician, and environmental evidence cited in the piece pointed to deforestation, sand and stone mining, and coal extraction as contributing factors. Assam’s chief minister attributed the flooding to heavy rainfall in Nagaland, while officials in Mon district said illegal mining could not be ruled out but denied it was the main cause. The article places this event in the broader context of Assam’s recurring monsoon floods and riverbank erosion.