Flood resilient housing: Settlement for the flood affected families of Pohar Dia village, Majuli

Abstract

The valley experiences high rainfall and floods virtually every year due to its tropicalmonsoon-rainforest environment. Because Assamese communities are vulnerable to natural calamities, they have evolved indigenous construction and planning practises throughout the ages, resulting in a constructed environment that is unique to the terrain. The Mishing community is one such group. However, due to the region's haphazard growth, traditional knowledge systems are being neglected, resulting in a hazardous environment, as well as the loss of lives and livelihoods. The inhabitants of the Brahmaputra valley, floodplain areas, have been employing these building methods for a long time; these people were not particularly financially secure in the past, but their situations have changed today, and there has been a lot of growth. Brahmaputra valley in Assam is an area where there is flood every year during monsoon. The people living in these areas have developed various strategies and techniques to construct their houses which are resilient to these floods. In my thesis project I have tried to identify the flood resilient strategies and design a housing for the flood affected families of Pohar Dia village in Majuli, Assam.