Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The North Eastern Regional Node for Disaster Risk Reduction (NER-DRR) of North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) in Meghalaya's Umiam carried out a survey of landslide-affected hillsides in Guwahati and recommended that urgent remedial measures and long-term planning interventions be adopted to mitigate risk and enhance resilience of Guwahati's urban slopes to future geohazard events.
NER-DRR conducted a field survey in Guwahati's landslide-prone hillsides following extreme rainfall events on May 30 and 31, 2025. In the two days of copious amounts of rainfall over Guwahati, a total of six distinct landslide events were mapped and evaluated. The events mapped are Panikhaiti (two locations near the police outpost), Sapaidang Village in Bonda, Navagraha Hills in Kharguli, and Maligaon (two locations near Swagat Super Speciality Hospital).
During these two days mentioned, 4 persons perished in landslide incidents in the Kamrup (Metro) district, including Guwahati city. Of the 4 fatalities, 3 deaths occurred at Bonda on May 30, and 1 at Maligaon on May 31. Landslides during the rainy season have almost become a regular annual occurrence in the hills in and around the hills of Guwahati. In a study conducted earlier, the Kamrup (Metro) district administration had identified several landslide-prone hillslopes.
On May 30 and 31, 2025, the North Eastern Region (NER) of India experienced an extreme meteorological event, characterized by widespread, intense, and continuous rainfall during the active phase of the southwest monsoon. This weather anomaly was driven by a depression that developed over northern Bangladesh and adjoining Meghalaya on May 30, which subsequently moved north-northeastward while continuing to influence the weather patterns over Assam and surrounding regions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warnings for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across various states of the region, with particularly severe forecasts for Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh.
In urban centres like Guwahati, situated amidst complex hill terrain and rapidly expanding infrastructure, such high-intensity rainfall events pose severe risks due to the fragile geomorphology, unplanned hill-slope modifications, poor drainage systems, and high population density. These conditions create an extremely conducive environment for rainfall-induced landslides, particularly along the fringes of hillocks, cut-and-fill slopes, and settlements encroaching upon unstable terrain.
During the rainfall episodes of May 30 and 31, several localized but devastating landslide events were reported across the city of Guwahati, resulting in the loss of human lives, damage to critical infrastructure, and disruption of mobility and essential services. In particular, locations such as Panikhaiti, Sapaidang in Bonda, Navagraha Hills in Kharguli, and parts of Maligaon experienced significant slope failures, many of which impacted human habitations directly.
In response to the gravity of the situation, a rapid field survey was undertaken by NER-DRR in the immediate aftermath of the events to document the spatial extent, triggering mechanisms, and damage profiles of the landslides in the city. The investigation involved geo-tagged mapping of landslide locations, photographic evidence collection, and assessment of local slope conditions and structural vulnerabilities.
As for human casualties, the survey recorded four confirmed fatalities due to landslide incidents in Guwahati, highlighting the consequences of uncontrolled urban expansion and slope encroachment in hazard-prone areas. The most tragic case occurred in Sapaidang village (Bonda), where a newly filled slope collapsed and claimed the lives of a mother and her two children. Another fatality was reported in Maligaon, where a house located directly below a failed granitic slope was destroyed, leading to the death of a resident. These incidents point to a critical lack of preventive infrastructure and awareness in communities living along unstable slopes in Guwahati.
After completion of the field survey, NER-DRR gave certain recommendations, like immediate mechanical clearance and debris removal in affected zones; construction of engineered retaining walls and slope reinforcements using soil nailing or geotextiles; implementation of proper drainage systems to prevent future saturation-induced slope failures; landslide susceptibility zoning for Guwahati with mandatory regulations on construction along identified hazard zones; and capacity building of local agencies and installation of real-time rainfall-triggered early warning systems.
At the conclusion of the report, NER-DRR stated that the landslide incidents in Guwahati following the May 30 and 31 extreme rainfall events are stark reminders of the vulnerability of urban hillside settlements. The combination of intense rainfall, anthropogenic slope modification, and lack of drainage planning has led to deadly consequences. Through this field documentation, it has been recommended that urgent remedial measures and long-term planning interventions be adopted to mitigate risk and enhance resilience of urban slopes to future geo-hazard events in Guwahati.
It should be mentioned here that the field survey report with attached recommendations has been submitted before the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Also Watch: