Experts working with community in three river islands — Majuli (Majuli district), Chalakura Char (Dhubri district) and Kobu Chapori (Dhemaji district) — in the Brahmaputra have urged both the government and NGOs to treat the islands and their people as “special” and prepare specific policies to reduce their risk of disaster and climate change on a war footing.

A workshop on Community resilience to water induced disaster and climate change: Vulnerability and adaptation in Brahmaputra river Basin organised by Aaranyak in Guwahati recently dealt in detail with various problems faced by the community.

Dr Partha J. Das, head, water, climate and hazard (WATCH) division of Aaranyak said on Monday river islands are the most disaster-prone areas of Assam and the inhabitants of the sars are the most vulnerable population because of lack of socio-economic empowerment, infrastructure, effective disaster management and climate change adaptation programmes.

Das gave a presentation on the theme of the workshop which was carried out recently by the WATCH division.

Bedika Borah, Wahis Hussain and Navajyoti Deuri also of Aaranyak presented detailed case studies on Majuli, Chalakura Char and Kobu Chapori respectively.

Arup Das of the geospatial technology application division of Aaranyak explained the findings from a GIS remote sensing based study of the three river islands.