Lakhs of animals affected in Assam floods as rural families suffer livestock losses across the state
While official bulletins continue to count villages submerged and families displaced, another toll has been quietly mounting during Assam's flood crisis this July, one that rarely makes headlines but has devastated thousands of rural households: the death and displacement of livestock across the state.
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According to data compiled by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) through its Disaster Reporting and Information Management System, the number of animals affected by the floods fluctuated sharply but remained alarmingly high throughout the week. On July 19, when the floods were relatively contained to eight districts, 37,558 animals were reported affected, including 23,382 large animals such as cattle and buffaloes, 12,598 small animals such as goats and pigs, and 1,578 poultry birds. Within 24 hours, as floodwaters spread to 16 districts and rivers including the Brahmaputra, Burhidihing and Disang overflowed their banks, the number surged to 597,273 animals affected. Of these, nearly 389,000 were poultry birds, with the highest numbers reported from Sivasagar, Jorhat and Dhemaji districts.
By July 21, the figure had declined to 185,029 animals affected as floodwaters began receding in parts of Upper Assam. However, Jorhat district reported that 107 animals, including cattle, goats and poultry, had been washed away. The following day, another 540 animals were confirmed washed away in Sivasagar district, while 138,965 animals remained affected across 11 districts. Sivasagar and Jorhat consistently emerged as the worst-hit districts for livestock, together accounting for a significant share of reported animal losses during the week, highlighting the severe impact of flooding along the Dikhou and Bhogdoi river systems.
These figures represent far more than entries in a government database. For many rural households in Assam, livestock is not merely an economic asset but an essential part of daily life and livelihood. Cattle, in particular, continue to play an important role in many villages by supporting agricultural work, providing milk and serving as a vital source of household income. For many families, the loss of a cow or other livestock is both an economic setback and a deeply emotional blow. Yet when floodwaters rise in the middle of the night, there is often little time to save anything beyond human lives.
Mrinmoy, a young man from a family that rears pigs, described to GPlus the frantic hours as floodwater entered their home.
"We have six pigs. When the floodwater started rising, we had to carry all six to the second storey of a nearby building. We were never prepared for a flood like this. Even my father has not seen anything like this in his life," he said.
For his family, each pig is more than livestock, it is a source of financial security.
"A mature pig could be sold for ₹20,000 to ₹30,000, so even the death of one pig would be a big loss for us. Farmers who rear 200 to 300 pigs are in even bigger trouble. Their losses could run into lakhs of rupees."
That single household calculation, multiplied across the hundreds of thousands of animals reported affected this week, points to a financial catastrophe unfolding quietly alongside the human one. On July 21 alone, 61,747 large animals and 92,578 small animals were reported affected. Even without an official estimate of the economic damage, the losses are likely to be substantial. For many rural families, livestock represents one of their most valuable assets, and the loss of cattle, pigs or goats can wipe out years of savings. Yet these losses rarely receive the same attention as damaged roads, breached embankments or flooded homes.
The scale of the crisis has also meant that rescuing livestock is now a formal part of disaster response rather than an afterthought. Rescue teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and District Disaster Response Force (DDRF) have been working alongside local volunteers, Civil Defence personnel and even the Army in districts such as Sivasagar and Golaghat, where boats have been ferrying not only stranded residents but also their animals. An SDRF rescue officer, describing the situation on the ground, told GPlus that his team has encountered countless dead animals during rescue operations.
"When we find any animal, we try our best to rescue it by lifting it into our boats," he said.
His words offer a glimpse into the often-overlooked realities of flood rescue operations, where responders wade through chest-deep water to save not only people but also livestock that many families depend on for their livelihoods.
The official records reflect these efforts. On July 22 alone, rescue teams across the affected districts evacuated 35 animals by boat. While that number appears small compared to the overall scale of the crisis, each rescue represents a livelihood saved, often at considerable risk to the rescuers themselves.
Relief camps and distribution centres have also been forced to contend with the livestock crisis. In Charaideo district on July 20, relief distribution centres were sheltering not only displaced people but also 7,710 large animals and 26,110 small animals brought by non-camp inmates, as many families refused to abandon their livestock while seeking safety. By July 22, the combined number of large animals, small animals and poultry sheltered at relief distribution centres across the affected districts had crossed 190,000, placing a staggering logistical burden on already stretched relief infrastructure.
Poultry losses, while individually less valuable than cattle or pigs, have been catastrophic in sheer volume. Dhemaji district reported more than 386,000 poultry birds affected on July 19 and 20, reflecting the district's high concentration of small-scale backyard poultry farming. For thousands of low-income households, particularly those where women manage poultry as a supplementary source of income, the loss of an entire flock can wipe out months of earnings. When floodwaters submerge a poultry coop overnight, there is often little warning and almost no opportunity to relocate the birds in time.
Veterinary teams have also been working to minimise the impact on surviving livestock. In Dhemaji's Sissiborgaon Revenue Circle, flood treatment and cattle camps organised by the Assam State Veterinary Department treated hundreds of animals and vaccinated hundreds more against foot-and-mouth disease in the days following the initial surge in floodwaters. The efforts were aimed at preventing disease outbreaks among animals crowded into makeshift shelters after being displaced by the floods. Similar cattle camps have been reported in Karbi Anglong and other affected districts, although officials acknowledge that veterinary personnel remain far too few to meet the scale of the crisis.
What emerges from a week of flood bulletins is a picture that official statistics alone cannot fully convey. Behind every entry marked "population affected" in a government report is a family that may also have lost the cow that fed their children, the goats that represented their savings, or the pigs they were raising to pay for a daughter's wedding or a son's education. Assam's flood season this year has once again tested not only embankments and river gauges but also the deep bond that many rural households share with the animals they rear. As floodwaters slowly recede in some districts even as they continue to rise in others, the work of counting the dead, rescuing the living and rebuilding shattered rural livelihoods is only just beginning—one lost cow, one rescued goat and one flooded poultry coop at a time.
