Assam Floods: 'We're in Desperate Need of Water, Boiling Rainwater To Drink'

'For daily usage, we are collecting floodwater and trying to purify it with potash alum.'

Floods in Assam have affected over 45 lakh people and Silchar is among the worst-hit areas.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint/Namita Chauhan)

Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Maaz Hasan

Floods in Assam have affected over 45 lakh people with Silchar town in Cachar District reeling from the deluge for almost a week now. At least 118 people have been killed in the state.

I live in Silchar, near the national highway, and the situation here is very bad. The ground floor of our house has been submerged in floodwater for over five days, we live on the top floor.

There has been no electricity for the past five days and we don't even have mobile network connectivity. With each passing day, it's getting difficult for us to survive.

The entire town of Silchar is reeling from the deluge.

(Photo Courtesy: Bijoyta Haldar)

Unavailability of drinking water is one of the biggest issues. We don't have drinking water, we are collecting rainwater, boiling it, and drinking it. For daily use, since there is no electricity, we are unable to operate the water pump, so we are collecting floodwater and trying to clean it with Potash Alum (Aluminium Sulphate).

With no water, it's getting difficult for women and elderly people to go to the washrooms. For all these needs, we are trying to manage with floodwater.

Since the locality is inundated, it's very difficult for us to go out and buy vegetables. So, there are no vegetables to eat, we are just consuming rice and dal.

Vehicles are submerged in floodwater.

(Photo Courtesy: Bijoyta Haldar)

The cost of essential commodities has skyrocketed. A bottle of water is being sold for Rs 80-100 and vegetables are also being sold at a very high price. We are using candles at night but those too are being sold at a very high price.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is trying to help us by distributing essentials, but we are in desperate need of drinking water. I don't know for how long this situation will prevail. We won't be able to survive long by using rain and floodwater for our needs.

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