Assam Flood – Never been a concern for Indian Media

Assam is yet again battling with floods that have affected about 4 lakhs people, reportedly killing over 85 people in Assam and Meghalaya. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), people in three districts are still wrestling with the crisis. The recent flood was caused by a massive cloud-burst in South-West Garo Hill district in Meghalaya on 21st September 2014. This cloud-burst in the neighboring state of Meghalaya has triggered the rise in water-level in Goalpara district leaving behind a shadow of destruction. About 50,000 hectares of agricultural land is still submerged under water with more than 37,000 hectares of land are affected alone in Goalpara, thumping almost 83,000 families, who are dependent on farming.

 How many of my fellow Indians are aware of the flood in the state of Assam? I am pretty sure that there will be just a handful of people in the entire country, who are aware of the present condition Assam and its people are going through. I will not blame my fellow citizens but of course the one to be blamed is the insensitive Media. The North-Eastern part of the country has always been neglected by national media and this is the reason, people from other parts of the country have very less or no knowledge about this part. Many of us know about flood in Jammu and Kashmir that caused devastating affect sometime back and this is because of the concern media had shown towards the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Assam Flood and Indian Media

Indian media is more concerned about covering news associated with the Dipika Padukone’s cleavage controversy or KRK’s stupid twitter remarks or making headlines on Salman Khan’s virginity statement that he gave on a talk show; but there is no coverage of media on Assam’s flood. The step-motherly treatment shown to the North-Eastern state by media is quite shocking. It is just the local media covering the condition of the state and its people but there is nothing shown on National media about the condition of Assam. It is surprising that there is no national media coverage even during this crucial time. The people of Jammu & Kashmir received relief only because of the extensive media coverage, which has encouraged people from all over the country to come forward and offer help. Isn’t Assam a part of India? Then why is Indian media behaving in such an insensitive manner? And most of the people do not even have an idea about what’s happening in the region. This is really sad! Even Assam needs its share of media attention. It is only with the help of media we can help the state and its people to combat with this natural calamity. It is an earnest appeal to India’s National Media to come forward as they have the capability as well as reach to a larger group of people in the country. Proper media coverage will create awareness among the fellow countrymen, which will encourage them to come forward and help the flood affected people of Assam.