Guwahati’s ‘Smart City’ Claim Sinks as Rapid Growth Outpaces Crumbling Drainage

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Thirty minutes of heavy rain is enough to expose how ill-prepared Guwahati remains to handle its own growth. Roads turn into waterways, traffic grinds to a halt, homes and shops are inundated and commuters are stranded - raising serious questions over the city's claim of becoming a "Smart City" while its basic storm-water drainage system remains inadequate.

The recurring waterlogging is no longer merely a monsoon problem. It is increasingly becoming a sign of a deeper urban planning failure, with Guwahati expanding rapidly through flyovers, widened roads, elevated corridors and dense construction without a drainage network capable of keeping pace.

Now, the Assam Government has directed consultants to revise the proposed Comprehensive Drainage Master Plan and the Detailed Project Report for the Bahini-Bharalu Basin, citing the need to plug gaps and strengthen measures to tackle chronic waterlogging.

But the move also brings an uncomfortable question to the forefront: why is Guwahati still struggling to drain rainwater after decades of urban expansion and repeated anti-flood projects?

Sources in Dispur point to unplanned development and infrastructure expansion as major hurdles, with roads, flyovers and new settlements often being developed without a sufficiently integrated assessment of the city's natural drainage channels and water-flow patterns.

The result is a city that is building faster than it can drain.

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