From Assam to Europe- Exploitative Extraction Aggravates Climate Risks

From Assam to Europe– Exploitative Extraction Aggravates Climate Risks

RITURAJ PHUKAN

What we are witnessing around the world is not just unprecedented but unnerving. The collapse of nature and the callousness of those who aggravate the already fragile conditions with impunity, are both alarming. The devastation caused by floods, landslides and raging wildfires across several nations reiterate the apocalyptic visage of a planet in peril. And yet, the narrative inevitably ignores that exploitative extraction of resources is the root cause for pushing humanity to the precipice.

The floods in Assam this time are different, we have been told. The mighty Brahmaputra, whose waters have inundated the valley since time immemorial, was a quiet witness to the deluge from the hills. The cascading waves swept away rural communities across three districts which had never experienced flooding on this scale. These indigenous communities, rooted to their traditions that have always revered nature, cannot fathom what has happened. But they do know that they have lost everything and life will never be the same.

After the initial hullaballoo about a cloudburst, ground reports have unearthed a nexus of manmade triggers-dams, rampant deforestation, rat-hole mining, stone-quarries, hill-cutting for road expansion projects and consequent sinking and landslides across the hills of neighbouring Nagaland. The future of the proud, self-reliant, resilient and sustainable communities of our region has been jeopardized by the shameless pursuit of wealth by a handful of extortionists with a colonial mindset.

The consequences of profiteering at all costs by a select group of businesses and people have caused immense hardship to the common citizens of the northeastern states. Besides being subjected to increasingly intense heatwaves, precipitation changes and loss of traditional ethos, the indigenous people and local communities are also subjected to the dangers of recurring flash floods, landslides, rockfalls, diseases, and access to basic amenities during such disasters. 

A slew of infrastructure development projects has scarred the verdant landscape of the northeast in recent years. The fragile hills and valleys have been subjected to intense pressure from road expansion projects that are deemed essential for facilitating the extraction of resources. These also fuel illegal extraction activities, often in connivance with powerful people. No amount of disaster preparedness is relevant when the natural infrastructure is being violated so blatantly.

It is quite ironic that the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), at its 25^th session earlier this year, had called for a Global Consultation on illicit economies and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is to be seen whether this global thematic study on the impacts of illicit economies and organized crime will encompass the northeastern states of India, where illegal coal mining, tree-felling, rock removal and sand theft from riverbanks, are aggravating the impacts of climate change and endangering the lives of millions.

Around the world, the expansion of illicit economies has led to forms of territorial control by armed actors that erode Indigenous self-governance and violate collective rights. The consequences include forced displacement, violence against leaders, with disproportionate impacts on women, children, and youth. It is also a cause for concern that some responses to this problem reinforce militarization and securitization without addressing the structural causes, thereby deepening social inequalities and increasing rights violations, the UNPFII stated.

Assam is not alone in having to face the unmitigated fury of nature. During this month, flash floods and landslides across several countries across Asia and raging wildfires across Europe and North America have shaken humanity, a harrowing reminder of our helplessness when the forces of nature are unleashed.

Across the international border, rains have caused widespread havoc in Bangladesh. The city of Chattogram received a record 412mm of rainfall in 24 hours, following which flash floods crippled a wide region. In Afghanistan, torrential rains and flash floods wiped out entire villages with hundreds of people reported missing.

[ The 25th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will take place from 20 April to 1 May 2026., Location: UN Headquarters, New York]

Massive flooding has been reported from several regions of China, which was also hit by two devastating typhoons. Rains and landslides have caused casualties across Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. Other countries have also been pulverized by extreme rainfall as entire communities are forced into the forefront of the climate crisis. What unites the great nations of Asia in this time is unpreparedness, because, nature is unpredictable and humans do not stand a change when it is time to reset the natural equilibrium.

Across Europe, the smell of acrid smoke has been the defining story of the summer, with large swathes of land across France and Spain on fire for weeks. Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated, and hundreds of thousand hectares of farmlands and forest have been rendered to ashes in apocalyptic scenes across several countries.

Meanwhile another heatwave, with temperatures likely to hit the 40⁰ C threshold which was unthinkable for the continent even a decade back. Wildfires and debilitating heatwaves have now affected the countries which pioneered and mastered the exploitative exploitation of nature long before the countries of the Global South.

And yet, Europe and the USA are continuously pushing the frontiers of war. It is not the time to reflect on who or what caused it but think about the collective global impact. The costs of the ongoing wars have been studied, with the emissions reaching that of several smaller nations in comparison. But we can only speculate how the wars have further exacerbated the climate breakdown, inflicting millions of innocent people around the world with consequences thatwe knew, and were already projected to happen?

In fact, the current, dramatic manifestations of climate change are even more unnerving because of the projections for the future. Climate models indicate the strongest El Niño since records began in the late 19th century, can change weather patterns worldwide. It could make intense heatwaves, long dry spells, destructive floods, stronger storms and widespread wildfires more of a threat. What we are experiencing now, could be the harbinger of a bigger climate breakdown that will imperil the lives of millions, if not billions.

What happened in the three districts of Assam can easily be imagined for several areas where the hills have been laid hollow by rat-hole mining and the forests devoured to skeletal deformities. Other disasters are waiting to happen as sand extraction from rivers have compromised the integrity of riverbanks, and rock collection from streams have changed its nature, both driven by the need to build more roads so the urban consumers of India can have easier access to our resources.

Driving past excavated hills was always depressing, giving me the impression of exposed innards, yet I would think of these as collateral damage for good connectivity. In the past few years, however, visuals of landslides, rockfalls and flash floods have taken root in my mind. These ubiquitous‘ scars’ are like warning signs with the omnipresent threat of landslides. Like me, some may mull over a bigger question about the future.

Who is this development for? Are we, by being silent spectators of the carnage inflicted on nature, not responsible for collectively bequeathing a dangerous planet to our children? Perhaps, with the projections of climate breakdown set to hit the region badly, the government will prioritize climate justice rather than force more exploitative projects in the name of sustainable development.

Is it too much to ask for a reassessment of climate risks, in the volatile, geologically and ecologically fragile Eastern Himalayan region? Can we selfishly consider the safety and wellbeing of our children before looking at the embellished benefits of projects that could undermine the stability of the entire region? The considerations should include mushrooming of illicit economies that inevitably follow new roads and other projects, and their impacts on the overall long-term health and wellbeing of the indigenous people and local communities.

RITURAJ PHUKAN : Founder, Indigenous People’s Climate Justice Forum; Co-Founder, Smily Academy ;National Coordinator for Biodiversity, The Climate Reality Project India; Member, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group; Commission Member – IUCN WCPA Climate Change, IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation, IUCN WCPA Indigenous People and Protected Areas Specialist Groups, IUCN WCPA South Asia Region and IUCN WCPA-SSC Invasive Alien Species Task Force; Member, International Antarctic Expedition 2013; Climate Force Arctic 2019 ; Ambassador, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Rituraj Phukan is the Climate Editor, Mahabahu , Convenor, Mahabahu Climate Forum and Managing Editor, MAHABAHU MIRROR

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