Are Assam’s Floods Natural or Man-Made?

October 04, 2025

By TEJ BAHADUR SINGH

To find out whether the floods that Assam faces every year are natural or man-made, Newsreel Asia producer Tej Bahadur Singh travels to Lakhimpur district, one of the worst-hit by floods. He meets a 47-year-old Toramai Pawe, an ASHA worker and daily wage laborer, in Assam’s Pahumara Ahom village, who has lived for decades, raising her children in a modest home built through years of toil.

In May 2025, a sudden flood, triggered by water released without warning from the Ranganadi Dam, swept through her village. Her husband, Biren, drowned just steps from their home, leaving Toramai in grief and despair. Their crops, belongings, and vital documents were washed away, joining the losses of countless others in their community. Across Assam, floods this year have affected 6.3 lakh people in 22 districts, claiming 26 lives and damaging 12,610 hectares of cropland.

For decades, Assam’s floodplains have been both a source of life and loss, with an average of 2.6 million people impacted annually. Districts like Lakhimpur and Dhemaji, downstream of the Ranganadi Dam, face devastating flash floods caused by sudden water releases from NEEPCO’s hydroelectric projects. These man-made disasters, compounded by a lack of early warnings and inadequate research, have turned fertile lands into zones of destruction. Families like Toramai’s lose not only their homes and livelihoods but also their sense of security. As infrastructure controls rivers without regard for communities, the floods in Assam reveal a deeper crisis—one where nature’s cycles are worsened by human hands, leaving millions to rebuild from nothing.