Name: Pranab Jyoti Sarma
Country: India

Year: 2022
Volume: Volume-7, Issue-1 (January-June)
Page Number: 56-63

ABSTRACT
The Brahmaputra is a major river system of the world characterized by exceedingly high rates
of basin erosion. It also provides a classic example in which high erosion rates of the
drainage basins results in rapid aggradations of the channels and over bank flooding. Besides
being a major threat to continued productivity of the land, soil erosion is now viewed as a
major „non-point‟ source of environmental pollution.
Assam is predominantly rural in nature, and thus there exist a very limited scope for job
opportunity outside the agricultural sector apart from the government jobs and services. This
is more so in Morigaon district of Assam. Agricultural labour is seasonal work with long
period of unemployment and under employment during the year. Thus their income had
shown a downward trend in their new environment. It may be one of the causes for shift of
occupational structures of the erosion affected farming people towards activities outside the
primary sector. The erosion displaced persons of the district are found to be over-represented
in the informal sector because the flexibilities of work involved in such activities. It is also
observed within the primary sector that the occupational pattern of the erosion affected
people, there is a move from agriculture as the primary livelihood to agricultural labourers,
wage labourers in areas other than agriculture and various other occupations like rickshaw
pullers, cart pullers, small or petty traders etc. in or outside the district.
The assessment of the occupational status of the erosion displaced people in the changing
scenario in Morigaon district reveals that there is a significant transformation in occupation
pattern and their income. The erstwhile marginal farmers vanished in the post erosion
scenario while the proportion of agricultural worker declined.
Key Words: Morigaon, Basin erosion, Occupational structure, agriculture