Assam delimitation proposal: an erosion of representation

The Beki river is as ‘bent’ as its name conveys. Snaking down from the hills of Bhutan to the north of Assam in India, it has been the source of both joy and sorrow for the people of Kalgachia town in Barpeta district by changing course and ‘bending’ more almost every monsoon season.

The river has left its most contrasting imprint on a 500-metre stretch of the 18-km road connecting Kalgachia with Barpeta town. Here, a lush green paddy field is juxtaposed with a few houses hanging precariously over an expanding bend of the river that has devoured more than half the asphalt road, forcing a gravelled realignment.