One common thread you might have noticed in the environmental issues surrounding Assam and the Brahmaputra river is the phenomenon known as the Tragedy of the Commons, which refers to the situation where individuals sharing a common resource each act in a way that maximizes individual benefit since the costs of one’s actions are dissipated among all users of that resource, while collectively depleting and degrading the resource to the detriment of the natural environment, and society at large. (Hardin, 1968)

As, such, although people living along the Brahmaputra river may be aware that these activities collectively cause flooding and the destruction of communities and wildlife, they are unmotivated to stop as their individual behaviour would not prevent this outcome as they cannot know that others would follow suit. Furthermore, depriving oneself of economic gain from agriculture and logging would only allow neighbouring farmers, or villages to reap more rewards.

So how do certain individuals like Molai rise above this “social trap”? By exploring the psychological and social processes surrounding him, we may hopefully gain some insights.