Focus On COVID-19 Has Caused Monsoon Preparedness Taking A Backseat, And That Is More Bad News

The Monsoon season is just around the corner and in little over a week, the first rains will hit the Kerala coast and in the coming days it will move towards the rest of the country.

Usually, this is the time of the year when states make their final preparations for the monsoon to avoid floodings. But this year, most of the resources have been diverted to fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.

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While COVID-19 is something that could be taken at most seriously, focusing only on the pandemic could mean that in the coming days there will be floods and waterlogging on a much larger scale.

The early signs of its have already started showing, in Kerala where heavy pre-monsoon showers have caused flash floods in many parts of the state. Many low-lying areas in capital Thiruvananthapuram were inundated in the pre-monsoon showers which also forced five shutters of the Aruvikkara dam to be opened on Friday morning.

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But what is happening in Assam is more worrisome as rains triggered by the Cyclone Amphan in Bengal and Odisha caused many rivers in the state are overflowing. On Friday morning, a portion of the PWD road near Kampur area in AssamĄ¯s Nagaon district was washed away by flood waters of the Borpani river. Following incessant rainfall in the area, the water level of the Brahmaputra river is gradually rising.

Speaking to ANI, SC Kalita, Central Water Commission, said: "The water level is rising gradually since May 16 due to continuous rain in the region, it is increasing 1-2 cm every 2-3 hours."

According to a flood report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority on Friday, Jia Bharali river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra river, is flowing above the danger level. Due to the rising level of Brahmaputra, 630 people in Barpeta district of Assam have been affected, according to the State Disaster Management Authority.

The report also stated that 15 villages in the districts of Darrang and Nagaon have been affected by the rising water level.

Every year the state comes under at least three waves of flood from April-May to September-October in which several lakh of people are affected, who have to take temporary shelter in schools and on other buildings apart from tented shelters on embankments and highways.

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However, the COVID-19 pandemic is making matters worse this year as it will be impossible to maintain social distancing and other preventive measures in such flood relief camps.