Heartbreaking video shows Assam father carrying three children through neck-deep floodwaters

A heartbreaking video from the devastating Assam floods has surfaced on the internet. The video shows a father submerged in neck-deep flood water with three children in a tub, as he pushed through in search of safe highlands. The video shows the children are scared and sobbing continuously as their father tries to rescue them. It was shared by the Indian Youth Congress on its Instagram handle and racked up over 215,000 views. While many praised the courage of the father to risk his own life to save his children, others criticised the lack of rescue boats and other safety infrastructure.

68 people died in devastating upper Assam flood

Assam is witnessing a devastating flood; 68 people have died, while around 40 are missing and around 4.45 lakh people remain affected across six districts: Sivasagar, Golaghat, Charaideo, Jorhat, Nagaon and Kamrup. Multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF and civil defence personnel, are carrying out rescue operations in the affected areas. Around 67 boats are deployed in the affected areas, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority bulletin.

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In every monsoon season, floods are a recurring theme in Assam. According to the National Flood Commission, roughly 40 per cent of the state is flood-prone. Every monsoon season, heavy rainwater increases the volume of the two major rivers, Brahmaputra and Barak, and their tributaries, which then inundate the nearby plains, wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of people.

This monsoon season, exceptionally heavy rain and cloudbursts across parts of neighbouring Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam have triggered floods, which have been described by Irrigation Minister Pijush Hazarika as the worst in six decades. Unlike other years, it was not the Brahmaputra that swelled and gradually inundated the flat plains from east to west. But this year it was a sudden rise in water level in tributaries like Dhansiri, Dikhow, and Jhanji, which usually work as the natural drainage system for the Brahmaputra. This flood submerged the relatively safer upper Assam region of the state.