When reporters reached Nepalikhuti, about 12 kilometres from Nazira and the last village of Assam along the Nagaland border, they found a community gutted by floods: hundreds of families living under tarpaulins beside a petrol pump and along the roadside, homes buried beneath mud and debris, and the air thick with the stench of decaying livestock. For more than seven days residents have been displaced, roads blocked and relief slow to arrive. “What will we do now? How will we survive?” asked villagers whose fields and houses lie under silt.
Survivors described desperate rescues and heavy losses. Rubul Ali said boats owned by members of the Bihari community — formerly used for stone quarrying — were the village’s only lifeline. “They rescued us,” he said, but added that access remains impossible until dumpers or heavy machines clear the roads so people can assess what remains. Rubul said many risked their lives: “One man rescued nearly fifteen people before he lost his life. Another saved seven people and died moments after sitting to rest.”
Small farmer Binod Sharma recalled how floodwaters from the Dikhow River surged on July 19. He said he was saved by his brother’s boat but returned to find no relief camps and no food: “We slept on the roadside without food. The next morning, everything had disappeared.” Tailor and small-business owner Jopa Pradhan said the floods swept away her shop and sewing machine; she saved only her daughter and now sleeps under a tarpaulin with other displaced families. “Today we have food only for today. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Please help us,” she said.
Villagers blame years of illegal coal mining and stone quarrying for worsening the damage, pointing to the thick sediment smothering fields and homes. “We work in coal mining and stone quarrying. That is how many families here earn their livelihood,” Rubul said, but added: “We will never allow illegal mining here again.”
The human toll sits alongside vast economic losses. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority bulletin, more than 4.45 lakh people across six districts remain affected and the official death toll stands at 68. Over 88,000 livestock have been impacted across the state, with more than 26,500 animals washed away; villagers in Nepalikhuti estimate nearly 2,000 cattle died locally. Nearly 49,000 hectares of cropland have been submerged, wiping out the primary source of income for many families.
As rescue teams clear roads and some residents return, they face ruins: collapsed houses, fields buried beneath mud and dead cattle trapped under silt. Many small dairy farmers, having taken loans to buy Holstein Friesian cows, now confront debt with no livelihood. Along the Dikhow’s banks, farmers sit with their heads in their hands, searching not for sympathy but for a way to rebuild. Across Nepalikhuti one question still echoes: “Where do we begin now?”
Original Source: https://www.indiatodayne.in/assam/story/assam-floods-nepalikhuti-village-where-the-river-took-everythin-1430895-2026-07-28?utm_source=rssfeed
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Publish Date: 2026-07-28 23:52:00
