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Annual Floods and Assam and kaziranga
Why is it in news?
- 85 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) remains submerged in Assam floods of 2020
- Annual floods are essential for the survival of Kaziranga.
Details:
- Why floods in Kaziranga’s ecosystem are essential?
(1) Assam is sandwiched between the Brahmaputra river and the Karbi Anglong Hills. So, it is flood prone area.
(2) Kaziranga is a riverine ecosystem, not a solid landmass-based ecosystem.
(3) The entire area of Kaziranga — formed by alluvial deposits from the Brahmaputra and its tributaries — is centred around the river.
(4) Floodplain eco system has not only been created by floods but also feeds off it.
(5) The regenerative nature of floods helps replenish Kaziranga’s water bodies and maintain its landscape, a mix of wetlands, grasslands and semi-evergreen deciduous forests.
(6) Floodwaters also function as a breeding ground for fish.
(7) The waters also help get rid of unwanted plants such as water hyacinth which collect in huge masses in the landscape.
(8) In a herbivore-dominated area like Kaziranga, it is important we maintain its grassland status.
(9) Some believe that floods are a way of natural selection. “A number of animals — especially the old, weak — cannot survive the floods.
- Concern:
(1) Earlier, a big flood would come once in ten years. Now, they happen every 2 years.
(2) Massive deforestation in catchment areas or release of waters by dams upstream mad increase intensity.
(3) While in the past, Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong were part of the same landscape, the animals now have to cross the NH 37 which cuts across the park.
(4) As a result, animals that venture out of the park, die either under the wheels of speeding vehicles on the highway, or are killed by poachers.