Guwahati: The Assam state committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged a protest in New Delhi on Saturday, demanding that Assam’s recurring floods and erosion be declared a national problem and that a permanent solution be found to the crisis.

Around 100 DYFI members and supporters gathered at Bhai Veer Singh Marg with banners, flags and placards. The organisation submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister listing three demands, national status for Assam’s flood and erosion problem, the constitution of an expert panel to determine the causes of the recent deluge in Upper Assam, and an increase in flood relief.

The protesters raised slogans including “declare ‘Assam’s flood problem a national problem’ and ‘ensure its permanent solution’”, “the people of Assam are crying out while the government sleeps”, “the struggle will continue until the flood problem is resolved”, “form an expert committee to find the causes of the Upper Assam floods”, “increase relief for flood-affected people” and “stop the sham in the name of flood relief”.

DYFI state secretary Nirankush Nath, state committee vice-president Rustam Ali, secretariat members Abdul Baced, Shubhankar Ghosh, Harshajit Das, Jitu Hazarika and Bhaswati Goswami, and state committee members Gobin Praja and Pankaj Roy were present at the protest.

Addressing the gathering, Nath said successive governments had failed to treat Assam’s floods and erosion as a national problem or work towards a permanent solution. He said the BJP had promised a flood-free Assam during elections but alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre had ignored the issue during the 12 years since 2014.

“Flood damage in Assam from 2014 to 2024 amounted to Rs 37,000 crore. The state government had sought Rs 22,270 crore, but the Centre released only Rs 6,000 crore. 39.5 per cent of Assam’s area is flood-prone, four times the national average, and 4,270 sq km of land has been lost to erosion since 1950,” Nath said.

He said declaring Assam’s flood and erosion problem a national one would be the first step towards addressing it. The problem, he said, cannot be dealt with by Assam alone because tributaries of the Brahmaputra originate in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, China, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Nath recalled that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had proposed the North-East Water Management Authority (NEWMA) in 2004, citing the limitations of the Brahmaputra Board. He said such an authority was envisaged to replace separate efforts by individual states with joint planning and implementation backed by fixed funds, a clear timeline and accountability, with the Centre bearing the full financial responsibility.

DYFI has demanded the formation of such a body to coordinate water management among the Northeastern states and strengthen India’s response to cross-border challenges, he said.

Nath also raised concerns over the impact of dams in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan. He alleged that sudden releases of water from such projects contribute to flash floods and called for a proper assessment of their downstream impact.

He said more than 130 approved hydropower projects had been expanded in Arunachal Pradesh and its upper regions in the ecologically sensitive and earthquake-prone Eastern Himalaya without a cumulative downstream impact assessment. Critics and local groups, he said, often describe unregulated and uncoordinated reservoir management as potential “water bombs” during heavy monsoon.

DYFI has demanded that work on these dams be stopped until such an assessment is completed, Nath said.

Citing the Sivasagar district disaster management plan, the Assam Water Resources Department’s river basin management report and the Brahmaputra Board’s hydrological assessment study, Nath said the lower parts of Nazira and Sivasagar had long remained highly vulnerable to flash floods.

He attributed the vulnerability to changes in terrain slope, silt deposits from activities in the upper reaches of rivers, and the blocking or obstruction of natural drainage channels and water bodies.

Nath said the state government had not officially explained the cause of the latest deluge. However, he said local people and the media had pointed to long-running illegal mining of coal, sand and stone as one of the causes. He alleged that an unscrupulous racket was behind the activity and accused the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma of remaining indifferent.

He also accused the Chief Minister of trying to shift responsibility by blaming rainfall in Myanmar, Nagaland and Assam. Nath pointed out that rainfall in Assam till the end of July was 30 per cent lower compared to earlier.

Against this backdrop, he demanded that the Centre constitute an expert committee comprising engineers, geoscientists and environmentalists to examine the causes of the floods. The panel should submit a time-bound report and prepare a plan to protect Assam from future disasters, he said.

Nath said people across Assam had supported flood-affected families since the recent Upper Assam deluge began and claimed that DYFI had contributed about Rs 15 lakh according to its capacity.

He criticised the government’s response, saying it had failed to provide adequate support to the affected population. Two months after the floods, he said, there had been no significant progress and there was no clear plan to restore livelihoods.

Many affected people, he said, were still waiting for the immediate Rs 15,000 assistance announced by the state government.

Nath also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Assam during the floods, while alleging that he had visited the state repeatedly during elections.

He said the Centre had released Rs 379 crore as an advance from its share of the SDRF but had not released NDRF funds. The Inter-Ministerial Central Team had submitted its survey report, he said, but no grant had been released so far.

DYFI leaders who visited flood-hit areas found that many affected families had been unable to rebuild their lives, Nath said. Workers in the affected districts were also struggling to make ends meet due to a lack of work.

He demanded one-time assistance of Rs 1 lakh for affected families to restart their livelihoods, Rs 10 lakh for families whose houses were completely destroyed and Rs 5 lakh for those whose houses were badly damaged.

He also sought higher compensation for crop losses and the death of livestock, including cattle, goats and pigs. Families of those killed in the floods should receive at least Rs 20 lakh, he said.

Nath further demanded a guarantee of 200 days of work under GRAM G to help rebuild flood-hit villages.