Abstract
Recurrent floods, erosion and siltation on their agricultural land have affected the lives and livelihoods of the communities inhabiting the Brahmaputra floodplains in Assam State. The study identifies and analysed the determinants of the problems and captures the vulnerability of the locals that is the occurrence of floods, adaption capacity and adaption mechanism, and sources of livelihood of the Mising community in Lakhimpur district, Assam. The study discusses the adaptive mechanisms and the changing cultural trends of the Mising community as a result of changing landscape in the region. For instance, through this study it was found that most of the people affected by the flood have been resettled and relocated over six to seven times from their original location. Since, they do not have any land holdings for agricultural activities which were their primary occupation, now they are forced to other occupations putting them in a more vulnerable situation. This empirical study was conducted in Matmora and Laiphulia villages during November 2014 to April 2015.
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Notes
- 1.
TNAU Agriculture Portal, Disaster Management. Retrieved 30 August 2014, from http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_majorareas_disastermgt_flood.html.
- 2.
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream.
- 3.
- 4.
The term Ali-Aye-Ligang means Ali—roots, Aye—fruits and Ligang—sowing.
- 5.
‘Ahu’ paddy and ‘Bau’ paddy are the principal product cultivated both through Jhumming and wet-rice cultivation. Rice is cultivated twice or thrice a year—Āhu (Lāi) in the month of December–January, Bāo in the month of May–June and Sāli (Āmdāng) in the month of June–July.
- 6.
The present-day celebration of Ali-Aye-Ligang reflects the sociocultural identity of the Mising people along with a definite role in the cultural convergence within the greater Assamese society.
- 7.
Other than the income earned privately, the Mising women have no right to claim or inherit any family properties (for details, see Doley 2012).
- 8.
Chaang ghar is an ‘eco-friendly’ house, built from locally available resources such as bamboo, cane, reed, wood and thatch due to the fact that they are cheap and easily available and would minimize the damage during floods.
- 9.
The original village site of Matmora was located approximately 6 km outwards to the river from the present embankment, and the river has advanced towards Dhakuakhana town by at least 10 km in last decade.
- 10.
The constructions of these embankments are funded by the Central Government through the State Government departments such as Public Works Department (PWD) and Water Resources Department (WRD). Labor works in the construction of embankments, and geobanks provide opportunities to the people of Matmora. However, it is observed that young men from the villages are migrating to nearby cities and towns in search of job opportunities, as the pay grade in the construction of embankments is significantly low.
- 11.
Matmora (Assam) Geotube Embankment on Brahmaputra: State Glorifies, but No End to Peoples’ Sufferings after Three Years of Construction. South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), 6 May 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014, from https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/matmora-assam-geo-tube-embankment-on-brahmaputra/.
- 12.
This can be attributed to the fact that people in Matmora have no land holdings as floods had washed them away. During the good old times, mainly in the Arkep area the villagers land holdings ranged from 12 bighas to 200 bighas and above.
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Kipgen, N., Pegu, D. (2018). Floods, Ecology and Cultural Adaptation in Lakhimpur District, Assam. In: Singh, A., Punia, M., Haran, N., Singh, T. (eds) Development and Disaster Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8485-0_20
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