Internet ৰ অধিকাৰী কোন?

Page: 01

                                                                           Page:02

Role of Educational Technology in the Teaching-Learning Process

Dipankar Choudhury

Department of Mathematics

Bhawanipur Anchalik College, Bhawanipur

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.” - Bill Gates

                                                           

Abstract: Educational Technology in Teaching and Learning is an important and challenging aspect in higher education. The first theories on human behavior as behavior affected by technology are discussed in this essay. These learning theories are behaviorism, cognitivist, and constructivism. They provide a pedagogical and/or anagogical basis for understanding how students learn. Also, some of the approaches to teaching with technology, use of the best technological tools and appropriate type of instruction to enhance learning under Bloom’s taxonomy are included. A general perspective is given of the advantages and disadvantages that technology offers for education.

            Today, more than ever, the role of educational technology in teaching is of great importance because of the use of information and communication technologies. With the help of various applications for distance education, the Internet, teachers, and students themselves, they see the advantage of educational technology. The question is whether schools and teachers themselves are ready for the use of technology in education and whether they are aware of its benefits? In this paper, we try to give an overview of the importance and use of educational technology in the classroom.

Keywords: Educational technology, Technology and learning, School, Teachers, The impact of technology on learning

Introduction: Technology for improving and facilitating learning processes is everywhere. This includes for increasing performance within the educational system. Technology begins to change our vision of education at the moment a teaching-learning program with technology begins. It has been used in about every classroom, as becomes a part of the courses in universities, high schools and middle and elementary schools all over the world. Thus, technologies as learning and teaching tools force teachers and students to use them, similar to learning a new task. For this reason, technology application in classrooms is essential to ensuring its efficiency and   effective integration. Technology has now changed how teachers and students access, gather, analyze, present, and transmit information by giving them more power in the classroom.

Importance of Educational Technology:

Educational Technology has absolutely revolutionized the entire education system. Until recently, the teachers used to be the sole interpreter of knowledge to the learners and the textbooks the sole resource. Educational technology has affected the conventional roles and it has opened up the new areas of teacher functions such as management of resources and management of learning. Today, teachers have a range of media to assist and supplement the instructional work.

Teachers can even specify the learning intentions, select the topic, identify the stimulus situation, determine media, manage teaching and finally conduct evaluation and modify the instructions in the light of evaluation results.

Educational process can’t proceed systematically without the help of educational technology. Every aspect of educational system is fully enlightened with educational technology.

1. Educational technology has provided a scientific base to the educational theory and practice. It has transformed a passive classroom to an active and interactive classroom, with audio-visuals, charts and models, smart classrooms and e-learning room which has drastically motivated and increased the attention level of the students.

2. The introduction of educational technology has modernized the teaching-learning climate of the educational institutions. The learners to be exposed to professionally designed programmers on video or computers.

3. Educational technology has helped and supplemented the teachers in their instructional programmers through the structured lessons for remedial, enrichment or drill purposes. The learners get training for self-instruction and teachers are relieved of the burden of routine repetition for exercise and revision purposes.

4. Through a systematic organization of content and instructional materials, educational technology has provided well-integrated structured materials for teachers thus saving a lot of their time which in turn may be utilized for creative work and quality improvement.

5. The training and use of educational technology contributes towards the professional growth of teachers. It equips them in the use of scientific methods for solving educational and administrative problems. It adds to the teaching competence of teachers and inculcates a scientific outlook and scientific temper in teachers and students.

6. Educational technology has improved the teaching-learning process and made it more effective and process oriented. Television, Radio, V.C.R, Computers and LCD projectors etc. have enriched and facilitated effective transmission of knowledge.

7. Educational technology has not only maintained the standards of education but also improved the ways of teaching by giving it Teaching Aids and Programmed Instructional Material.

8. Mechanism of feedback devices for modification of teaching-learning behavior has produced effective teachers in the teacher-training institutes.

9. Students who appear for higher or competitive examinations have been benefitted by educational programmers on T.V, Radio and Internet.

10. Educational technology has opened up new fields of educational researches in the field of examination process, evaluation and classroom-teaching.

11. Educational technology has provided practices and strategies that help teachers to teach according to individual differences of learners.

12. Educational technology has provided scientific foundation to education through the theories of learning and intelligence.

Thus educational technology is required in each and every aspect of teaching learning process. Educational technology serves all the purposes for modern education. Education today can’t go far without the help of educational technology. The innovations of technology in the field of education have done wonders to educational process. It has not only maintained the structure but also improved the nature of the educational process.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING:

Since computers are still not widely used in many schools, the teaching process is dominated by traditional methods. It is dominated by the frontal form of work where the teacher had enough interaction with students. Failure to thrive at their own pace and insufficient activity of students was one of the drawbacks of who are not uniform in knowledge and never pay enough attention to those who are not sufficiently mastered the material and those who are above their average. This difference is often hampered by teacher assessment work and how to transfer knowledge to a group of children with different knowledge. The teacher chooses to keep average to good teaching where children with insufficient knowledge would not get the necessary knowledge. The children with insufficient knowledge can progress smoothly without unpleasant feeling of their ignorance, no frustration, and humili- ation while for the most advanced children teaching will be boring. With the development of information and communication technology, especially computers, a number of researchers (Morrison et al., 2010) were trying to see the benefits and the effect of their use compared to older traditional learning. For many years, we tried to give answers to the question of advantages and disadvantages between traditional and modern teaching where the prevailing educational technology. The period from 1967. To 1972. Is considered to be a period of consolidation of educational technology, which has become the most commonly used term in the science of pedagogy and the educational process With the application of educational technology, students can independently progress in mastering teaching materials, to choose the pace of work, to repeat the material that is not sufficiently clear, that after tests performed immediately get results and track their progress. Interactive, multimedia content provides a great advantage of modern learning over traditional learning. With the application of educational technology

we get feedback between the teacher and the student. Among the first studies on the comparison of the traditional and modern ways with the help of educational technologies research was Clark Richard. He tried to compare research between lectures and computer guidance and instruction to determine which the better way of learning is. He came to the conclusion that they are both effective depending on the ways they are used. The same conclusion came by other authors and that is that there are some major differences in the use of educational technology and traditional teaching. On the other hand, research at the Center for Educational Research in Pittsburgh within Individually Prescribed Instruction showed that computers are better tailored to the individual abilities of students, rather than teachers themselves. Educational technology must inevitably be integrated into classrooms and curricula. With the advent of educational technology in the classroom teacher, education is faced with the challenge that teachers integrate educational technology in their daily work. Numerous studies have shown that a small number of teachers is willing to integrate educational technology in their teaching activities. The reason is that there are two categories of teachers in the understanding of educational technology. Some of them have thorough understanding of modern technical appliances and their operation while others think it is necessary for them to gain additional technical knowledge of the appliances and methods, teaching methods, student-teacher relationship... These two groups represent a group of teachers between older and younger teachers. Older teachers during their study did not have the possibility of training with modern technical appliances, did not have the information technology, educational technology... while the younger generation of teachers possess the knowledge required for the use of educational technology. For a better understanding of educational technology requires a set of computer science, pedagogy, psychology, cybernetics, informatics... The knowledge teachers possess is sufficient for a basic use of education technology. However, educational technology is one big system. First of all, teachers have a basic knowledge of the use of educational technology. It takes far more professional training through a variety of conferences, courses, professional literature, seminars... in order to get a better knowledge in the use of educational technology. The fact is that under use of educational technology, primarily due to poor school equipment necessary resources, insufficient information and knowledge of teachers and the lack of interest and lack of motivation of teachers to use them. Teachers have to be motivated to use the same because the use of educational technology in teaching provides better interaction with students, better reception of information because the students receive knowledge visual, auditory and kinesthetic way. Among other things, an educational technology motivates students to work independently where the student is more motivated to return to learning and working because modern technical equipment is widely available at any given moment.

Discussion:

Educational technology is a field of study that investigates the process of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the instructional environment and learning materials in order to improve teaching and learning. It is important to keep in mind that the purpose of educational technology (also referred to as instructional technology) is to improve education. We must define the goals and needs of education first and then we use all our knowledge, including technology, to design the most effective learning environment for students.

Educational technology is a field of study that investigates the process of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the instructional environment and learning materials in order to improve teaching and learning. It is important to keep in mind that the purpose of educational technology (also referred to as instructional technology) is to improve education. We must define the goals and needs of education first and then we use all our knowledge, including technology, to design the most effective learning environment for students.

The learning materials today have greatly expanded because of the various technological advances. Instructional materials include more conventional materials, such as the blackboard, overhead projectors, televisions, VCRs, overhead projectors, slide projectors, and opaque projectors, as well as newer materials, such as the computer, various software applications, LCD projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, scanners, the Internet, satellite, interactive TV, audio and video conferencing, artificial intelligence, and so on.

Teachers in the public schools and faculty at universities need to understand what types of materials are available, how to use them, why they should be used, when they should be used, and how to integrate them into the teaching/learning environment in order to meet the ultimate goal of improving education. Teachers also need to seriously consider how these newer materials can affect what and how we learn and teach.

The issue of what these materials are and how to use them is a first step. But we must quickly begin to discuss how these materials should be used and how they affect the curriculum and instruction in our schools. Technology can be used to perpetuate a teacher-led, knowledge-based learning approach or it can be used to help us implement a student-centered, constructivist, and progressive approach. We need to help teachers to understand the bigger picture of how technology can revolutionize education. Just teaching teachers how to use the technology will lead to enhancing a knowledge-level educational system. Teaching them the real potentials of technology will lead to promoting higher-level thinking, independent learning, and life-long learning.

The skills and issues that need to be addressed by teachers are vast. To help in understanding what these skills and issues are, the Coordinator of Educational Technology at UNCA has created a list of items regarding educational technology. These are items that the faculty at the universities needs to understand so that they can incorporate them into their own teaching and thus help pre service teachers understand them so that they can more effectively utilize technology in their own teaching as well.

Remember, in all of these areas of educational technology that the goal of improving a specific aspect of teaching and learning comes first. The technology is selected to help us meet these goals.

CONCLUSION:

The presence of educational technology is growing in the classroom. The new generation of kids comes ready to work with these new technologies, which play an important role in children’s learning and acquiring various cognitive knowledge so that educational technology must be incorporated into future curricula. The application of educational technology enhances skills and cognitive characteristics. With the help of new technology comes an explosion of learning and receiving new information, especially on mobile devices. Teachers have been using new technologies in the classroom. However, the development and application of new technologies grows as a measure that is the question of whether teachers are trained to keep up with them. Here we have two problems. Are the teachers have the ability to use educational technology and whether the school is sufficiently equipped with all modern technical means? Numerous studies were carried out, some are still ongoing, but we have to find the right strategies to apply educational technology in teaching.

Reference:

11)     THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING. Dr. Lazar Stošić, College of professionals studies educators, Aleksinac Serbia.

22)     ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS: Perception of the Faculty - Dr. Irshad HUSSAIN and Muhammad SAFDAR.

33)     Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works By Howard Pitler ; Elizabeth R. Hubbell; Matt Kuhn

44)     Defining Educational Technology By Simonson, Michael.

55)     Current Trends in Educational Technology Research by Mihalca, Loredana; Miclea, Mircea.

66)     It's Elementary! Integrating Technology in the Primary Grades By Boni Hamilton.

77)     Online Learning and Teaching in Higher Education by Shirley Bach; Philip Haynes; Jennifer Lewis Smith.

88)     Google, Wikipedia. 

AFSPA: Necessity or Misused Power

Dipankar Choudhury

Department of Mathematics

Bhawanipur Anchalik College, Bhawanipur

“The issue of human rights is one of the most fundamental human issues and also one of the most sensitive and controversial”- Ali Khamenei

Abstract:  North East India possesses incomparable cultural wealth and natural beauty but has suffered badly due to insurgency and political turmoil. As the NE states, have remained cut off from the mainland for years, human rights violations in these areas largely go unnoticed and ignored. Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts is collective name of several acts passed by Indian parliament for providing special powers to the Indian Armed Forces and to provide army officers and jawans legal immunity for their actions in disturbed areas. The Army maintains that it needs AFSPA’s protection; allegations of misuse of power have surfaced frequently and bred resentment against the state and its armed forces in Manipur.

In this paper we are going to discuss the necessity of AFSPA in Manipur or it is a black cave on human rights in India.

Key Words:  Insurgency, political, violations, AFSPA, Army, Human Rights.

Introduction:  The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) is one of the oldest and the most controversial parliamentary regulations of the Indian government. The acts have been enforced in 'disturbed areas' whenever a large scale civil disrupts has taken place that can threaten the national security. Although it's a precautionary measure from the part of the Parliament, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts have been criticized by academicians, activists and politicians since long. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts allows the Indian Armed Forces to observe a strict vigil in what the acts term as 'disturbed areas'. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts was put in action by the British Empire on August 15 in the year 1942 to suppress the Quit India Movement. Till date, the Government of India is using this act to mobilize the Indian Armed Forces to suppress any threatening uprising in 'disturbed areas'.

Importance for the study:  Every country dealing with insurgency or with terrorism has its own laws and legislations to tackle the menace. Likewise, India has laws to fight insurgency and terrorism, and has given legal powers to armed forces operating in ‘disturbed’ areas under AFSPA 1958.

Objective for the Study:  The main objective for study is to find the necessity of AFSPA in Manipur or it is a misused power for army and military to violate the fundamental rights of Manipuri people.

Methodology:

The data use in preparing the topic is the secondary data. The data are collected from various documents, periodicals, books, magazine and internet. These data are collected and analyzed in systematic order.

What can an Indian Armed Forces officer do under AFSPA?

Under AFSPA, an Indian Armed Forces officer can do the following:

·   After giving warning, an officer can fire upon or use other kinds of force, even if it causes death, against the agitator who is acting against the law and order in the 'disturbed area', for the maintenance of public order

·   Seize any unauthorized arms storage, hide-outs, shelter or training camp which is being used by the militants

·   Arrest anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is suspected of having committed such a crime, without a warrant

·   Search any place to make such arrests, or to recover any suspect, or confiscate unauthorized arms and ammunition

·   Stop and search any vehicle or vessel, suspected to be carrying such a person or weapons

·   The arresting officer must present the suspect to the nearest police station with least possible delay, with a report of the circumstances that resulted in the arrest

·   No Army officer can be held against any arrest under the AFSPA. No prosecution or any other legal proceeding can be made against the arrest or seize. Even the state government cannot question his action.

Feeling among People of Manipur

 The 1972 amendments to AFSPA extended the power to declare an area disturbed to the Central Government whereas in the 1958 version of AFSPA, only the state Governor had the power. A section of the Manipuri’s feels that power should remain only with the state government. They also feel that the Section 3 of the AFSPA does not specify any time limit. The notification in Manipur issued in 1980 still continues even after 24 years, and thereby they feel that they have been deprived of the spirit of liberty, freedom and democracy for too long a period. The exercise by the armed forces of the unchecked powers to arrest, search, seize and even shoot to kill conferred under Section 4 of the Act has resulted in large-scale violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens under Articles 14,19,21,22 and 25 of the Constitution. The power under the Section 4(a) of AFSP Act 3 has hurt the citizens of Manipur the most as they feel that the Act confers the armed forces with broadly defined powers to shoot to kill and that this is a law, which fosters a climate in which the agents of law enforcement are able to use excessive force with impunity. It is alleged that security forces have destroyed homes and other structures presuming them to be used by insurgents under provisions of Section 4(b) of AFSPA. Manipuri’s also feel that arrests without warrants is a serious encroachment on the right to liberty of a person. The power of search and seizure under Section 4(d) has been extensively used by the armed forces in cordon and search operations leading to widespread violation of fundamental rights of citizens and the forces have kept arrested persons (Section 5) for several days in their custody. Due to protection under Section 6 of the Act 8 some security force personnel even violated the human rights of people and left the victims without any effective remedy. The failure to identify those responsible for human rights violations and to bring them to justice has meant that some members of the security force continue to believe that they are above law and can violate human rights with impunity.

Why Are Special Powers Essential:

Every country dealing with insurgency or with terrorism has its own laws and legislations to tackle the menace. The power to declare an area ‘disturbed’ lies with the Governor or the Central Government, who have to form an opinion that the use of armed forces in the aid of civil power is essential and then notify it as ‘disturbed area’. The declaration of an area as a ‘disturbed area’ is for a limited duration and review of the declaration before the expiry of six months has to be undertaken by the executive. A non-commissioned officer has also been conferred with the powers under the Act because it is he who is the commander of a section and leads it for any operation. While exercising powers under Section 4(a), the armed forces should use minimum force required for effective action. This force is to be used against armed militants. While executing action under powers conferred under Section 4(b) of the Act during operations against militants, there are chances that a few houses may get damaged where the militants take shelter. Section 4(d) is essential, so as to search out the militants or any other equipment hidden in villages or in residential areas. Innocents are likely to be harassed during cordon and search operations. Though, the security force personnel are protected under Section 6 of the Act, but if they violate the law they are severely punished under the respective laws of Army and the Armed Forces. The powers conferred under the AFSPA have been upheld by the Supreme Court in 1998. The people influenced by the militants are concerned about human rights violations by security forces, but what about the violations committed by the militants? As per a police report, during 2000-2004, militants killed more than 450 civilians and kidnapped several senior government officials. Initially, there were only three militant groups; today, there are at least 26 militant groups operating in the small state. Most of the groups operate under the influence of external directors. There is also the menace of drug trafficking in the state. Overall, the situation in Manipur is alarming and to counter this, the armed forces operating in the state require special powers to support them.

General Effect, if AFSPA is repealed in Manipur:

It will cause a chain reaction in all states where the Act has been enforced.

No armed force would like to carry out any operation in the insurgent affected areas without proper legal protection for its personnel.

It will demoralize the armed forces and all initiative will be lost.

Whenever any offensive action is taken by armed forces, the militant groups will instigate the people/local authorities to initiate legal cases against the armed forces. Justice may be biased under the influence of militants.

The militants will get an upper hand and may be difficult to contain.

Incidents of extortion from the civilian population/government organizations will go unchecked.

Civil administration will be overrun by the militants and there will be chaos all around.

The Supreme Court has come out strongly in favor of the human rights of Indian citizens, including those living in the “disturbed” areas. The court’s direction on a PIL petition on the 1,528 alleged killings by security forces and the police in Manipur shows that it was not satisfied with the submissions made in defense by the government and the Army. After a long time the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has come under a critical review. The court has asserted that there is no absolute immunity under the Act.

While the Army maintains that it needs AFSPA’s protection, allegations of misuse of power have surfaced frequently and bred resentment against the state and its armed forces in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir. Ideally, the Army should not deal with terrorism. Punjab was able to contain militancy without Army help. Whenever the Army is deployed, it has to be ensured that excessive or retaliatory force is not allowed to be used. A prolonged Army deployment with unlimited powers under AFSPA can prove counter-productive as has happened in Manipur. For many years now Manipur has lived with internal disturbances, fake encounters and protests against AFSPA. The Centre and the state government are to blame for the excessive reliance on the Army to contain insurgency.

The Supreme Court has called for an inquiry by an independent agency into all Manipur encounters that have happened in the last two decades. This will hopefully make the powers-that-be realise that no matter how difficult and challenging a situation, violations of the rule of law cannot be overlooked or sanctioned. The Army, at best, can supplement the civil administration’s efforts to control a volatile situation in the short term. If allowed to carry on beyond a point for whatever reason — political convenience or inadequacies of the state/Central forces — the arrangement is bound to backfire. When AFSPA is allowed to stay for six long decades, instances of abuse of power are bound to crop up. As and when excesses happen, these must be investigated thoroughly and swiftly so that the guilty don’t go unpunished.

Remedial Measures:

The general administration in Manipur is not able to give effective justice to the people, with the result that it has to depend on the security forces for its normal functioning. Therefore, the forces operating in the state have to be honest, law abiding and must respect the rights of the people of the state. The commanders at all levels should follow the principle of “use of minimum force” required for effective action. They should brief their men to respect all womenfolk. In case any woman is to be arrested, then it should be done with the help of a lady police/ force personnel, who should also remain present during interrogation. While carrying out search operations, the force personnel should associate a local respected person and also the owner of the house, and after the search, the owner should be permitted to search the search party is he so desires. One must challenge before opening fire and to ensure that one fires only in self-defense. A grievance cell should be opened at Sector Headquarters/ Battalion Headquarters so that the civilians can lodge complaints against the force personnel if they so desire and the commander should take necessary action as deemed fit. Police representatives must be associated with every operation conducted by the security forces.

The training should be of high level so that the armed force may be able to handle all types of situations with professional competence. It is high time that the state police is trained to take over operational responsibilities from the Army and the BSF. The normal operations may be conducted by the state armed police and only major and pinpointed operations be left for the armed forces. Junior level personnel should be properly briefed to not to over react to any sensitive situation.

It is also important to evolve a mechanism to deal/ tackle with over ground support structures that are generally well-connected with local politicians and are regarded in the society. Everything depends on intelligence and hence we must sharpen the skills of the armed forces for collection of hard intelligence. Senior commanders should handle civil society sensibly so as to extract sympathy and maximum information from them. This will also help in changing the perception of the local population in the larger interest of the Government/ Nation.

Conclusion:

There can be no two options that insurgency has to be put down with a firm hand within the provisions of law and not to be dictated by the militants. You cannot tie both hands of the security forces and then ask them to fight armed militants. The militants will keep on exploiting the sentiments of the local people and they (militants) will try to reap benefits from such situations. Avoid any tendency to carry out blind operations against militants without specific intelligence/information. Indiscriminate arrests and harassment of people out of frustration for not being able to locate the real culprits should be avoided. Security forces should be very careful while operating in the Northeast and must not give any chance to the militants to exploit the situation. All good actions of the force get nullified with one wrong action. Any person, including the supervisory staff, found guilty of violating law should be severely dealt with. The law is not defective, but it is its implementation that has to be managed properly. The local people have to be convinced with proper planning and strategy.

Reference:

1)     Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

2)     AFSPA in Manipur: Securing India's Northeast

3)     Human Rights Violation :Exposing AFSPA

4)     Wikipedia, Google.

5)     A Place where Human Rights are violated - E-Pao.

6)     The Tribune- Misuse of AFSPA (Jul 11, 2016)

7)     Various Newspapers and Magazine articles related to the topic.

Flood Management in Lower Assam : A Review Of Barpeta district floods In the recent years

Mr. Dipankar Choudhury

Asst. Lecturer, 

Bhawanipur Anchalik College

INTRODUCTION :-

Assam Agriculture is the primary sector in the state's economy. The socioeconomic condition of Assam largely depends on its agricultural production. Though India is becoming one of the rapidly developing countries, some states, especially Assam, are not being able to escape from taking help of huge sectors like Agriculture. Compared to most other states in India, Assam is considered a less developed state, which depicts a gloomy picture the economic condition of the state given that India is considered a less developed country (LDC).

            Floods and dry spells are the principal natural disasters faced by farmers in Assam every year. The principal source of floods is the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries. Flood is highly ruinous for crop production. During 1991-92, the state of Assam witnessed three floods in one year which has caused a heavy loss to the cultivation sector damaging a cropping area of around 3.5 lakh hectares. Therefore, flood control is very important and should be given foremost priority to save the crops in Assam.

            Among all natural disasters, floods are the most frequent to be faced by India. Floods in the eastern and north eastern part of India (Orissa, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Assam) in the recent past, are striking examples. The annual precipitation, in India, including snowfall is estimated at 4,000 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM). Out of this, the seasonal rainfall in monsoon is of the order of 3,000 BCM (Report by Central Water Commission (CWC)). The rest includes sparse rainfall, lower depression and rain due to cloud bursts.

The records of the last century show a trend of widening of the Brahmaputra in Assam. The Brahmaputra occupied around 4000 sq. km in the 1920s and now the Brahmaputra occupies about 6000 sq. km (WRD, 2008). Based on the satellite image estimation of area eroded in the Brahmaputra for the recent years of 1997 to 2007-08 (WRD, 2008), the total land loss per year (excluding avulsion) is reported to be from 72.5 to 80 Sq. km/year. Bank erosion has been continually wiping out more than 2500 villages and 18 towns including sites of cultural heritage and tea gardens affecting lives of nearly 500,000 people.

            In north India numerous streams and rivulets rise in the Himalayan foothills and sub-mountain region from Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east. These streams are subject to flood due to the incidence of heavy rainfall in their respective catchment areas during monsoon. The instant rainfall over the steep terrain causes sharp rise in the water level of streams resulting flood in the sub-mountain region downstream. The rainfall in India shows great temporal and spatial variations, unequal seasonal distribution and geographical distribution and frequent departures from the normal. As reported by Central Water Commission (CWC) under Ministry of Water Resources, government of India, the annual average area affected by floods is 7.563 million ha. This observation was based on data for the period 1953 to 2000, with variability ranging from 1.46 million ha in 1965 to 17.5 million ha in 1978. On an average, floods have affected about 33 million person between 1953 and 2000. There is every possibility that this figure may increase due to population growth. The National Flood Commission (1980) has reported that the total flood prone area of India was 34 million ha. It has also mentioned that an area of 10 million ha has been protected, but the effective protection may be available to only 6 million ha. Main problems in India with respect to floods are inundation, drainage congestion due to urbanization and bank erosion. The river system, topography of the place and flow phenomenon are the different contributing factors responsible for flooding. Being a vast country, the flood problems in India may be visualized on regional basis.

STUDY AREA:-

 Barpeta district in the State of Assam was created and started functioning since 1983. The district is spread across 3245 sq.kms. It is surrounded by Bhutan Hills in the north, Nalbari and Baksa districts in the east, Goalpara and Kamrup districts in the south and Bongaigaon and Chirang districts in the west. Total population of the district is 16,93,190 (2011 census) with a population density of 632 per sq.km. and sex ratio of 1000:951. The major rivers flowing through the district are Brahmaputra, Beki, Manas, Pahumara, Kaldia, Palla, Bhelengi and Chaulkhowa. The rivers flowing through the district are also causes annual floods and riverbank erosion particularly in the char areas (flood plane), leading to a considerable loss of life and property. Barpeta district has overall flat topography with gentle slope towards south . The northern part of the district is slightly elevated, while the southern part close to the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra is low lying and flood prone.

                              .

2012 to 2015  BARPETA FLOOD INCIDENT :-

Barpeta district experienced serious catastrophic flood during the last three years. These were one of the most severe floods in the Barpeta history. The river Brahmaputra touched the highest flood level of 43.62 m in the history of last nine years in 2012. The main rivers which are responsible for the fooding are Pahumara, Kaldia, Bhellengi, Brahmaputra, Nakhonda and Mora chaulkhowa. The major revenue circles affected are Sarthebari, Bajali, Sarupeta, Barpeta, Baghbor, chenga , Kalgachia and Barnagar. The brief impacts of the floods are as in the following table-

Particulars	2012	2013	2014
No. of villages affected	72	48	63
Total crop area affected  ( in Hectors )	1401	874	1243
Population affected	64583	23038	36204
Animals affacted	557	327	483
Houses Damaged	10886	5038	8223
Human lives lost	8	NIL	2

The floods in Assam grew worse in 2015 at Barpeta district., Affecting an estimated 43000 people in 76 villages across the districts. The district authority also added that over approximate 1325 hectares of crop areas had been flooded. The Assam state authority's daily flood report also added that a total of 38 roads, bridges and culverts were damaged in various districts, while 11 breaches were noticed in embankments across the state.

 FLOOD MANAGEMENT BY DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION :-

Early Warning:-

In Barpeta district early warning dissemination was quite effective to connect the last mile. Central Water Commission (CWC), the agency responsible for monitoring of all the rivers in the state, released the first early warning for 2015 flood. In case of rise in water level or any probability from the catchments area, CWC issues the warning to the SDMA/DDMA for further dissemination through EWS established by the DDMA. For each village State Government has appointed a resource person (village head man), who is responsible for the dissemination of early warning in his/her villages during flood situation. Also DDMA informs the nearby police station/ outpost for the early evacuation or to warn the villages under their jurisdiction.  Early warning has been disseminated on time for the quick response and evacuation for all the three flood waves.

Rescue and Response:-

Since flood is a regular phenomena in the district, District Administration and all the concern departments was prepared in advance to manage the flood situations. Here are the Major steps towards the relief and rescue explained in following table-

Step 1	On receipt of warning of the impending flood for all the three waves, part of the immediate response an early warning has been disseminated in each village to warn the people.
Step 2	Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) has been activated in the District on 24 x7 basis
Step 3	District Administration has been disseminated early warning in the likely affected areas especially to those people who have no access to mass media.
Step 4	Immediately after inundation evacuation activities has been started from the worst affected circles on the priority basis.
Step 5	Adequate number of Disaster Management staff, rescue swimmers, boats, and equipment had been deployed to all the affected villages for quick rescue and relief operations
Step 6	Flood affected people had been shifted to pre-identified safe places at higher elevations i.e. schools, Panchayat Ghar, embankments.
Step 7	As a key responsibility, food, safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation facilities etc. has been provided to all the affected people by the District Administration
Step 8	Search and Rescue activities were also carried out through out the district along with the relief work. All the injured and people needed medical attention had been administered by the medical care unit.
Step 9	Damage assessment has also been carried out for the assessment of loss due to flooding for private and public infrastructures and crops etc.
Step 10	Cost of damages has also been sent to the State Govt. for release of funds from the “Calamity Relief Fund” as per the prescribed norms.

MAJOR CHALLENGES FACED BY DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION :-

The flood situations at the district were significantly well managed but still there were challenges to reach the final goal of zero casualties. During the entire flood management process, number of issues had been identified which need to be addressed on the priority basis to deal the future floods efficiently. Some major issues and challenges identified by the District Administration are discussed below,

Problem Concerned with People’s Return to Home:

Since the embankments are on higher elevation than flood plains, people have taken immediate shelter during the floods. The flood affected victims, who have lost their homes stayed back on the embankment for a long time, some stayed back permanently. Though the people on the temporary embankment are protected physically but on the flip side the temporary embankments are highly vulnerable to erosion and breaching.

Disease Surveillance and Control:

During the entire flood period (June-Oct, 2015), no disease outbreak was reported. District Administration, Medical and Public Health Department were prepared in advance to deal with any disease outbreak situation. A total number of 40 medical teams have been deployed to the various sites for the surveillance and monitoring purpose.

River Erosion and Breaching of Embankments:

River erosion and breaching of embankments are major cause for the rapid inundation. Roads and embankments have been breached or overtopped at various places, with the worst breaches developed at places.

Coordination among the Agencies :

Interdepartmental coordination during disaster situation is one of the important issues need to be addressed. In normal practice majority of the NGOs are trying to reach the affected sites in proximity of roads and headquarter with the similar type of relief materials. Hence, a good coordination mechanism among the NGOs is high priority need.

Boat Management:

Availability of the adequate number of boats during the relief and rescue work at the time of flood was a challenge for the administration. All the resources i.e. boats men, rescue swimmers etc. need to put in loop in terms of regular meetings and exercises especially during the non-flood period.

Relief Camp Management:

During flood managing relief camps were a major challenge for the department especially distribution of food, hygiene and sanitation at the campsite etc. Even each relief camp context presents different unique challenges, which require improvisation and quick problem solving techniques.

Damaged Roads:

Most of the roads were severely damaged including the State Highways, PWD roads due to the inundation and waterlogging caused serious communication disruption in relief and rescue operations. The district administration has planned alternative solution to combat with these situations through the deployment of adequate number of boats for the relief and rescue operations. But restoration of road connectivity is the challenge to pursue quick relief and rescue operations.

Waterlogged Agricultural Land:

In many cases, the temporary small embankments were made to stop the high flow of water inside the town. After the flood is over the same small embankments were acted as barrier to stop the backflow of trapped water. District administration faced huge challenge to drain out the trapped floodwater in the agricultural lands. Finally the administration removed the temporary embankments to help the trapped water for backflow.

Conclusions and Recommendations:

                               Barpeta is regularly affected by floods due to high discharge in the Brahmaputra and other river system of the district. The main causes of floods are widespread heavy rainfall in the catchment areas and inadequate capacity of the river channel to contain the flood flow within the banks of the river.

Flood hazard and potential flood risk from all sources need to be identified and considered at the initial stage in the planning process. Disaster Risk Reduction need to be mainstreamed in the developmental processes of the district and should preferentially be located in areas with little or no flood hazard thereby avoiding or minimizing the risk. Identification and mapping of all the resources, alternative routes is required in advance in view to the worst flood scenarios along with the capacity building exercises for all the stakeholders including the community. Flood awareness among the communities need improvement along with the concept of community based disaster risk management. Launching public awareness campaigns on flood safety and risk reduction and sensitizing all stakeholders to flood problems and mitigation in flood prone areas is essential.

                                Water Management is another major identified issue by the District Administration. Presently administration is working on the planning phase of this issue. Since the area is too big, so instead of making embankments, Administration and PWD planning to do the proper channelization of the rivers and tributary system. During the flood time, instead of creating flooding excess water will be distributed in different channels to avoid inundation. Proper channelization of water is an effective and long-term solution for the flood management. In case of embankment development, the concern is the regular increase in riverbed height, as much as big embankments we develop, it will be shorter each year due to the high quantity of sedimentation in the riverbed. So development of embankments may not be a long-term solution for the problem. Geographical Information System (GIS) based database need be prepared to map, analyze, plan and manage all the hazards and resources for the better management of future floods. Flooding becomes a major hazard to life and property only when people live on the floodplain. Identification of the unplanned and unauthorized construction in the riverbed areas could be mapped through GIS for planning. Flood hazard maps will be showing flood boundary based on different magnitudes of flood with specific return periods. These maps can be used to regulate developmental activities within the floodplain, so that damages could be minimized. Some of the data required for hazard mapping is difficult to obtain from ground measurements and it is time consuming; in such cases satellite imageries plays an important role. Satellites provide synoptic and frequent coverage of flood affected areas and thus become valuable for monitoring flood disaster. Thus satellite data can be directly used for deriving the flood inundation limits. If satellite data sets during flood times are available over a period of time for a floodplain, they can be conveniently used for hazard zone mapping. A GIS based detailed mapping and modelling will be useful for flood hazard. Flood zones are geographical areas likely to be flooded in a particular range and they are also a key tool in flood risk management within the planning process as well as in flood warning and emergency planning. The basic concept of flood plain zoning is to regulate land use in the flood plains in order to restrict the damage due to floods, while deriving maximum benefits from the same.

                                                           

REFERENCES

[1] Askew, A. J. (1999). Water in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. In Leavesley et al (eds) Destructive Water: Water-caused Natural Disasters, their Abatement and Control. IAHS. Publication No. 239.

[2] Assam State Disaster Management Authority  „Relief Camp details‟, Guwahati, Assam .

[3] Barpeta District Disaster Management Authority „Barpeta District Disaster Management Plan‟, Barpeta, Assam

[4] ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF FLOODS: A CASE STUDY FOR BARPETA DISTRICT OF ASSAM, INDIA S. Kalita and N. K. Talukdar

Gauhati University, Assam, India

[5] Flood Management in Assam, INDIA: A review of Brahmaputra Floods, 2012 Dr. Indrajit Pal (Ph. D)*, Dr. Siddharth Singh,IAS, Mr. Abhinav Walia*