Home, a place of comfort for all of us, is more than just concrete walls; it embodies the raw, tender and unfiltered experiences of one’s life. Every nook and corner has a story of hardship to tell, and the brickwork is coated with the sweat and struggles of the individual. It takes months and years to transform a house into a home.
Now, imagine that the place where you could simply be yourself is swept away in the blink of an eye. The feelings of devastation and anguish experienced by such a person are beyond comprehension. Isn’t this miserable and agonising?
This has been the reality for a large proportion of people in Assam. For years, our state has been experiencing a recurring phenomenon that is almost traumatising to even imagine.
Assam, situated in the Brahmaputra Valley, is one of India’s most climate-vulnerable states. Climate change, deforestation, riverbank erosion and inadequate water infrastructure have collectively intensified flood-induced displacement in the state, with approximately 40% of Assam’s area remaining at risk of flooding.
One of the most intense floods in more than a decade struck Assam in 2024, triggering 2.5 million internal displacements. The char islands, low-lying riverine landmasses along the Brahmaputra, are particularly vulnerable.
Millions of char dwellers face recurrent and prolonged displacement, with households experiencing an average of nearly two displacement events over the past decade alone.
Rather than relocating to distant areas, most internally displaced persons (IDPs) tend to move to comparatively elevated lands within the char regions.
Having spent months on the ground in flood-affected areas of Assam (Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Barpeta and Nalbari) and engaging with displaced people, I have witnessed the terrible living conditions, extreme hardships and human suffering that flood-affected communities endure.
These families lack even the most basic amenities and the minimum standard of living. During our interactions, they expressed how painful it was to watch everything they had worked for over the years disappear within a short span of time. Many have been compelled to leave their homes and settle wherever they can find a small piece of land on which to construct a shelter.
These households claim that frequent flooding and riverbank erosion have forced them to relocate several times in a single year. Even in their current settlements, they remain uncertain about how long they will be able to stay. Witnessing such uncertainty, fragility and helplessness has been incredibly heartbreaking.
Equally alarming was the limited institutional assistance extended to these communities. It was surprising to discover that the only assistance provided was basic relief material (such as tarpaulins, rice and dal), distributed just once and, even then, inequitably among affected households. Subsequently, the communities were left to fend for themselves.
Many displaced households have constructed shelters that remain vulnerable to flooding. Most of these shelters are located on unidentified land and near embankments. Some displaced households have built their shelters on government-authorised land but have been asked to vacate the premises as soon as possible.
The affected families are devastated by these notices and continue to look to the government for an alternative place to live.
It has also been observed that there is a significant communication gap between the government and affected households, and this gap has evidently worked to the advantage of certain intermediaries.
On many occasions, due to a lack of awareness and information, vulnerable displaced households fall into the traps of financial fraud and end up losing whatever little they possess. The rehabilitation package announced by the government has had a very limited impact as a strategy to address their plight.
Most of the affected households were dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, intensified flooding has destroyed agricultural fields and caused extensive losses of livestock.
These communities were already living in poverty, and the worsening circumstances have pushed them into even greater distress.
Displaced people in these areas are now forced to seek casual daily-wage work, which is available only occasionally and often pays very little. Such earnings are insufficient to meet even their most basic expenses.
The greatest concern, however, is the absence of a comprehensive policy or stringent legal framework to safeguard, protect, support and uphold the rights of displaced people. India lacks a comprehensive national policy and legal framework to address the concerns of internally displaced persons or refugees.
The Ministry of Rural Development has published a Draft National Policy for Rehabilitation of Persons Displaced as a Consequence of Acquisition of Land, which addresses only displacement resulting from land acquisition. However, this draft overlooks other factors that lead to displacement.
Experts researching internal displacement in India have repeatedly emphasised the need for a national policy and legislation to address displacement caused by conflict, natural disasters and development activities.
In the absence of a national policy or legislation, maintaining reliable data and establishing monitoring mechanisms necessary to safeguard, support and uphold the rights of internally displaced people becomes extremely difficult.
The recent Disaster Management Act, 2025, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 25, 2025, amends the earlier Disaster Management Act, 2005, but does not introduce well-defined measures to improve the living conditions of displaced populations.
Since these Acts primarily focus on preparing disaster management plans at the national, state and district levels, they often fail to adequately address the concerns and challenges faced by Environmentally Displaced Persons (EDPs) or provide concrete measures to restore their minimum standard of living.
This highlights the urgent need for an overarching national policy on disaster-induced displacement in India, one that specifically recognises the concerns of EDPs and proposes practical policy measures to address them.
A private member’s bill, titled the Rehabilitation and Relocation of Persons Displaced due to Climate Change Bill, 2022, was introduced in the Lok Sabha (EPW Editorial, 2024). However, the Bill remains pending and does not appear to be receiving the urgency it deserves in terms of parliamentary consideration.
The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Dibrugarh University. Views expressed are that of the author and do not reflect EastMojo’s stance on this or any other issue.
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