Monsoon proper is yet to set in. Yet, the citizens of Guwahati have faced a harrowing time for three successive days in the passing week. One should not indulge in blaming an “unprecedented” rainfall. What should be rather discussed is the “unprecedented” and repeated failure of the city administration and the departments concerned of the government to take appropriate action based on what they learnt from past experience. What Guwahatians faced on August 5 last year has been repeated on May 30 this year, and the actual rainy season – yes, the rainy season and the monsoon season have become distinct from each other – till September, if not early October, is yet to come. The government had, after the August 5, 2024, flood, identified rampant earth-cutting in the hills of Meghalaya adjoining the city as the main reason behind that disaster. It is unfortunate that the Meghalaya government flatly denied the allegation. Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, took a major decision in the backdrop of last year’s city floods by vesting the responsibility of Guwahati’s development on Jayanta Mallabarua. The citizens expected that certain drastic measures would be taken by the new minister. Though a thorough assessment study of the city’s increasing flood problem was carried out and an ambitious plan drawn up, what appears lacking is a series of short-term measures. Frequent desilting of drains and natural water channels is the most important. Simultaneously, drastic measures are also required to protect the hills so that hill-cutting and topsoil erosion are checked in earnest. As far as the massive flow of water from the southern side to the city is concerned, Meghalaya, however, is not the lone culprit. Any person travelling from Khanapara to Jorabat can see how rapidly the forest and hills to the eastern side of the National Highway – which is inside Assam – have been encroached upon. While not all these encroachers are illegal migrants or people of doubtful antecedents, there are strong rumours that these people have powerful political protectors because of which the government cannot dare to touch them. The government must accept that encroachers – whether on the hills or on water bodies – are squarely responsible for increasing floods in Guwahati. The government has done well by evicting the encroachers of Silsako Beel and relocating certain institutions from that wetland. If Guwahati has to be made one of the most beautiful cities in the country, then recovering all the wetlands which have been lost since the sudden shifting of the capital from Shillong to Dispur without any plan and programme by Sarat Chandra Sinha. The government should seek support of the High Court and carry out evictions in all other hills and wetlands of the city. Tax-paying citizens wholeheartedly supported this eviction. Only some political parties patronise the culprits.