As Assam’s floodwaters recede, families return to homes buried in silt to find lives upended and services shattered.
Children and women face the harshest fallout: lost schooling, unsafe water, hunger, damaged health centres and rising protection risks.
The article argues that relief alone is insufficient and calls for child‑centred, long‑term disaster preparedness and resilience.
Floodwaters have begun receding in many parts of Assam. But as communities slowly return to homes buried under piles of silt and mud, the full scale of the devastation is only beginning to unfold.
For thousands of people, particularly in districts including Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Nagaon and Jorhat, the floods have disrupted far more than daily life. Homes have been damaged, livelihoods interrupted and essential services thrown into disarray. The task of returning to normalcy has begun, but recovery is inevitably slow.
Floods are not new to the people of Assam’s Brahmaputra and Barak valleys. But this time, the scale of the disaster was far greater. Such devastation leaves consequences that linger long after the waters have receded—and that is precisely what affected communities are experiencing today.
Children and women are among those most affected. Displacement, shortages of food and safe drinking water, inadequate shelter and disrupted access to essential supplies and healthcare—particularly for new-borns, pregnant women and lactating mothers—are immediate concerns. Damage to schools, health centres and roads further compounds their vulnerability, often forcing families to depend on humanitarian assistance for their basic needs.
At a time when the devastation is being measured in the number of affected villages, damaged houses and displaced families, it is equally important to look beyond the numbers and understand what the flood has meant in the lived realities of children and communities.
Speaking to rescue workers in a remote village in Sivasagar, a nine-year-old girl said, “The water came very fast—the river was at our doorstep in the afternoon, and before sundown we were all in chest-deep water. My books and school bag were all gone. We had to leave our house and stay with relatives, with hardly any place to sleep, let alone study. We are scared it will happen again.”
For her, the flood is not merely a disaster statistic. It means the loss of familiar surroundings, interrupted education, the anxiety of another flood and uncertainty about when life will become normal again.
A mother of a four-month-old child shared another dimension of the crisis: “My baby is only four months old. Since the flood, it has been very hard to get clean water, food and basic hygiene supplies for both of us.”
These experiences underline why relief cannot be limited to material assistance alone. Children and women also need safety, emotional support and the assurance that essential services—from schooling and healthcare to nutrition, sanitation and safe drinking water—will be restored as quickly as possible.
Recognising the gravity of the situation, the Government of Assam, in collaboration with the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Armed Forces, mounted extensive rescue and relief operations. Despite broken roads, submerged land and breached embankments, emergency teams worked to rescue affected people and minimise the loss of lives and property. Several non-profits also joined hands with district administrations to take relief to remote and vulnerable communities.
Yet, adversity on this scale also demonstrates that rescue and relief, however prompt and extensive, cannot by themselves address the consequences of an extreme disaster.
Districts such as Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat in Upper Assam have been among the worst affected. Situated along the floodplains of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, including the Disang, Dikhow, Darika, Jhanji and Demow, these areas have once again witnessed the destructive consequences of overflowing rivers and rising water levels.
The crisis must therefore also serve as a lesson for the future. Assam needs stronger and more sustained preparedness to reduce the impact of such disasters on vulnerable communities.
In this effort, Child Rights and You (CRY), along with its local partner Gramya Vikash Mancha (GVM), has been supporting affected communities within its capacities, complementing the wider relief response to children and the community members, with particular attention to pregnant women, lactating mothers and new-borns.
For adults, rebuilding a damaged home or restoring a disrupted livelihood may be among the most immediate priorities. But for children, the consequences of a flood extend well beyond a submerged neighbourhood or displacement from home.
Their education can be interrupted for weeks or longer. Access to nutritious food may become uncertain, while safe drinking water and sanitation facilities may be unavailable. Adolescent girls may face a shortage of menstrual hygiene products. Healthcare, including routine immunisation and maternal and child health services, can also be disrupted.
The crisis can heighten protection concerns as well. Economic distress, displacement and the breakdown of familiar community support systems can increase risks for children, particularly girls and children with disabilities.
Restoration, therefore, cannot simply mean returning families to their homes. It must also mean restoring the conditions that allow children to remain healthy, safe and in school.
The loss of livelihoods deserves particular attention. When the income of parents and caregivers is disrupted, the disaster can leave behind invisible scars—deepening poverty, economic distress, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. For vulnerable families, these pressures can also increase the risk of children being pushed into labour or early marriage.
“Considering children's safety first, our dedicated volunteers provided emergency support to 2,470 households and 1,780 children with dry rations, safe drinking water, hygiene kits and other essential relief materials,” said Prithibhusan Deka, President of Gramya Vikash Mancha (GVM).
He added, “We are appealing to our donors and partners to help us deliver immediate relief—nutrition, maternal care and essential household items—to these families before their situation worsens. Every day of delay adds risk to an already vulnerable mother and her children.”
The Assam floods reinforce an important reality: disaster management cannot be seen solely as the responsibility of the government, nor can it remain limited to responding after an emergency strikes.
What is needed is a continuum of disaster preparedness that brings together government agencies, civil society organisations, communities, local governance institutions, academic and research bodies, the private sector and the media, with each contributing its particular strengths and expertise.
Civil society organisations can play an important role in building trusted relationships with communities, including children’s collectives and youth groups, while strengthening local awareness and preparedness. Properly trained volunteer groups can supplement official early-warning and response mechanisms and support government agencies, including the SDRF and NDRF, during emergencies.
The private sector can contribute resources, supply-chain capacity and logistics to strengthen local response systems. Academic and research institutions can provide evidence and scientific inputs for better planning and risk assessment. The media, meanwhile, has a critical role in disseminating verified information, countering misinformation and encouraging responsible participation.
Preparedness must also go beyond protecting lives during the immediate emergency. Flood-resilient and child-friendly schools and health facilities, stronger embankments, better infrastructure and contingency plans to ensure the continuity of education, healthcare and nutrition services must all form part of climate-resilient disaster preparedness—not be introduced as an afterthought once an emergency has already struck.
Resilience cannot be a quick fix. It requires sustained effort and continued investment, without waiting for the next cyclone to hit or floodwaters to rise. The ecosystem of support has to be built now, with child-focused preparedness and response at its centre.
As Assam moves from relief towards restoration, the most important lesson is that recovery cannot be the end of the conversation. Today’s experience must be converted into tomorrow’s preparedness.
That requires meaningful collaboration between government, civil society, communities, private partners, researchers and the media—not only to respond better when disaster strikes, but to reduce risks before it does.
The waters will recede, homes will be rebuilt and livelihoods will gradually recover. But for children, the impact of a disaster can outlast the visible destruction. The real test of Assam’s recovery, therefore, will not simply be how quickly life returns to normal, but whether it emerges safer, more prepared, and more resilient for its most vulnerable children. That is why child-centred preparedness cannot wait for the next flood. It must begin now.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth