Resilience Amid Rising Waters: The Human Face Of Survival In Dangori Beel.

Guwahati, Assam, 12th of November, 2025 : Every year, as the monsoon clouds gather over Assam’s Nagaon district, the people of Dangori Beel prepare for what has become a way of life – the rising waters. This small tribal settlement near the River Hariya, home to families who migrated nearly a decade ago in search of farmland, has long lived in the shadow of floods.

When the river overflows, paddy fields vanish first, cattle are shifted to higher mounds, and homes turn into islands. Schools close, roads disappear, and families trek several kilometres to Laopani Railway Station – their annual refuge on higher ground.

In June 2025, the floods came early and stayed longer. For almost a month, more than 60 families were displaced, forced to abandon their homes and daily routines. Amid this upheaval, one of the first relief efforts to reach them came from Reliance Foundation, which distributed WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) kits to affected households.

For many, it was a modest intervention that carried profound comfort.

“We left as soon as water started entering our house,” recalls 56-year-old farmer Maneshwar Deka. “The government gave us ration, but there was no soap or bucket for drinking water. When the kit from Reliance Foundation arrived, it felt like relief had truly reached us. It helped us stay clean and healthy even in that chaos.”

Agricultural labourer Putumaa Dekaraja remembers how difficult it was to maintain basic hygiene. “Even when the rain stops, our land takes weeks to dry. The soap, sanitary pads and bucket from the kit helped us live decently until we could go back,” she says softly.

Each Reliance Foundation kit contained essentials like soap, detergent, toothpaste, sanitary napkins, ORS, a 14-litre bucket and a mug – simple items that, in weeks of displacement, became symbols of dignity and care.

For residents like Ajit Basumatary, the impact went beyond convenience. “During floods, people think of saving lives first,” he says. “But when illness spreads in shelters, it becomes another disaster. This kit protected us.”

In regions like Dangori Beel, where flooding is an annual certainty, such timely and practical interventions have quietly strengthened community resilience. Reliance Foundation has been working across several flood-prone areas of Assam to address not just immediate needs, but the everyday challenges that follow disaster – from clean water and hygiene to livelihood recovery.

The story of Dangori Beel, then, is not just about surviving the floods. It is about the endurance of its people – and the steady, thoughtful support that helps them begin again each time the waters rise.

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