Flood preparedness : Mohen Das of Japripathar, Bokakhat, Builds Traditional Wooden Boats for flood affected people :
20 April – 2026 :

Floods in Assam always bring hardship to the people, and preparation is essential to cope with them. Boats, oars, and other equipment must be readied in advance. With the onset of the rainy season, Mohen Das, a resident of Japripathar Village in Bokakhat co-district, has become busy building traditional wooden boats. For decades, he has sustained his livelihood by making these boats, keeping alive the Assamese tradition of hand-crafted boat-making.

Mohen Das has already built and supplied several boats this season. Recently, BJP candidate Mrinal Saikia from Khumtai constituency purchased two boats from him as part of flood preparedness. For the coming monsoon, Mohen has prepared five boats, each 25 feet long, for sale.

In flood-prone Bokakhat, traditional boats are in high demand by Kaziranga National Park forest camps, village panchayats, disaster management authorities, police, and livestock departments. For this reason, Mahen Das is a well-known name in the area. Over the past 25 years, he has built more than 200 boats, supporting his family and providing employment to three or four other families in Japripathar, while indirectly benefiting 15–20 people. Originally from Shantipur in Golaghat district, Mohen settled in Japripathar village in 1985 and has been making boats ever since. Today, more than 60 families in Japripathar village use his boats, especially during floods.

Typically, Mohen builds boats 20 feet long and 3 feet wide, though he has also constructed larger ones up to 41 feet long and 7 feet wide. These big boats are used during floods to transport cattle from riverine islands. Since most of Bokakhat co-district is flood-affected, boats become the only means of transport, and demand rises sharply. Each boat requires more than 30 days of labor, and they are purchased not only by villagers but also by local panchayats and forest departments.

In Assam, different rivers require different types of boats. While large “Barpetia” and “Guwahatiya” boats are used in bigger rivers, smaller rivers like Dhansiri and Diflu rely on “Soria” and “Pansoi” boats. According to Mahen, the Guwahatiya boat is the most popular in his area. He uses traditional tools such as saws, chisels, axes, hammers, and knives, though small mechanized saws have recently become very useful. The boats are made by joining planks of wood, sealed with lime and clay mixtures, and coated with indrakote (tar) to make them waterproof.

This traditional craft of hand-made boat building, once on the verge of extinction due to lack of suitable timber and modern technology, has been kept alive by Mohen Das of Japripathar village. Beyond supporting his own family, he has provided employment to ten other families and helped countless flood-affected households in the region.