The public discourse on mitigation of flooding and waterlogging in several localities of Guwahati triggered by just one spell of heavy rainfall largely remains focused on desilting of drains to flush out storm water. As concrete structures of residential, commercial and government buildings, infrastructure has reduced the natural green spaces like forests in the hills and water bodies in the plains; the water absorption capacity of the city landscape has drastically reduced. Desilting of drains alone cannot address the recurrence of flooding and waterlogging in the city without enhancing its water absorption capacity. Making the sponge city concept integral to planning and investment decisions under flood-free Guwahati initiatives can facilitate innovative approaches and strategies to find a sustainable solution to the problem. The sponge city concept focuses on increasing water absorption and retention capacity, imitating the similar functions in a natural landscape to reduce the intensity of urban flooding. Some of the design ideas associated with the concept include the provision of permeable surfaces such as roads, pavements, urban wetlands and parks to increase the area under natural landscapes for retaining excess rainwater; rainwater harvesting; rooftop gardens for slowing down water run-off and water retention; and digging of ponds and underground reservoirs for increasing absorption of rainwater. With pavements in the city being the covered space of the drains, adequate permeability of the pavements will depend on the water discharging capacity of the drains. The drains in the city also receive water run-off from the streets, from the hills and the household drains. Making the city roads permeable with design modification will also allow water to seep to underground layers apart from running off to drains through inlets. Seepage of rainwater can replenish underground water sources and prevent the water table from declining. Interlocking concrete paver blocks replacing bituminous surfacing in different localities are looked at from the perspective of reduced maintenance and durability. Rethinking this technology from the perspective of increasing permeability of the city streets will inspire design modification through proper research and development exercises to plan road design in the entire city for addressing the problem of waterlogging. Reducing water runoff from residential and commercial compounds to the streets is another mitigation measure. Ironically, even though this measure is ingrained in the city’s building permission regime, due to failure on the part of Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Guwahati Metro Development Authority to enforce it, runoff from building compounds aggravates the problem of waterlogging. Strict enforcement of this important provision for issuance of building permission will increase permeability of gated compounds, public and private both, and reduce rainwater runoff to the city streets. Another mandatory provision in building bylaws for planting trees in the compound in which permission for construction building has been granted is not complied with by most owners and builders. The building construction regulations require leaving adequate space in the area allocated for landscaping unpaved and green and covering the landscaped area with permeable tiles or pavers from the driveway or walkway so that rainwater percolates underground. Periodic inspections must be carried out to ascertain adherence to the regulations and to detect if any alteration to landscaping has been made and entire open space is covered with concrete, preventing water from percolating. Adequate legislative provisions are necessary to impose heavy penalties to improve compliance with the regulations and will also act as a deterrent in respect of new construction. Enforcement of these regulatory provisions will also help the owners and occupants of the buildings understand the importance of extending the sponge concept to gated compounds to increase the overall rainwater absorption capacity of the city. Promoting rooftop gardening has multiple benefits of improving air quality apart from slowing down rainwater runoff. The rooftop also provides the space for growing and eating fresh vegetables free from pesticides and chemical residues and also acts as a roof cooling solution by absorbing heat and reducing the temperature of the surface. The provision of a rainwater harvesting system to store the rainwater runoff from the roof can significantly reduce water discharge from gated compounds to the streets. Sponge mitigation measures do not involve huge costs and can be easily implemented and managed by house owners and building occupants, but the cumulative impact of implementing this important component of the sponge city concept will be discernible. Making the streets and pavement permeable and desilting the water waterbodies involve huge costs, and implementing the measures requires massive government funding. The central and state governments transforming the sponge city concept into specific schemes and programme will facilitate earmarking and allocating required budgetary resources. Pushing the sponge city concept as alternative public discourse on flood-free Guwahati will greatly influence government policy decisions and prioritisation of investment decisions. Such a discourse creating the space for urban policy planners and sustainable city advocates to come up with their innovative solutions will help shape a concrete action plan for developing Guwahati as a sponge city.