Assam and a few northeastern states have been witnessing frequent disasters this year, with heavy rains causing widespread disruption and destruction. Hills are facing landslides and slush movements, while rampant flooding across urban and rural areas is impacting work and movement. In a span of two weeks, floods have wreaked havoc in southern Assam, particularly in the Barak valley. Silchar, the second largest city of Assam and a major transportation and transit hub to connect Mizoram, is currently seeing flood waters reach neck-deep levels in almost the whole town for a week now. Users on almost all social media platforms have been highlighting the plight of the city.
While excessive rains have been the cause of floods almost every monsoon in Assam, this time, the breach of an embankment in Bethukandi is responsible for the Barak river water gushing out into the city of Silchar. Out of the many embankments of Barak Valley, the Bethukandi dyke is important as it is responsible for restricting the flow of the water of the Barak River towards the city. River Sonai, which comes from Mizoram, gets merged into River Barak near Bethukandi. During monsoon, Sonai brings in a good flow from the Mizo Hills, which results in increasing the level of Barak.