Four Months to Rains

Five months have elapsed since Guwahati had faced the worst-ever disaster on August 5 last year caused by a massive cloudburst. The events of the afternoon of August 5, 2024, were unprecedented in the city’s history of monsoon-induced floods and had turned the slogan of ‘Flood-free Guwahati’ into a poor joke. The heavy downpour, which had led to massive waterlogging across the city, caused the filthy water to inundate several residential localities, with waist-deep water that remained for over 24 hours, damaging household properties belonging to several hundred families. While the authorities tried to pass the blame on the neighbouring Meghalaya for the massive water flow from its hills to the city, this had also exposed the failure of the departments concerned to anticipate in advance what large-scale earth-cutting activities in the hills of the neighbouring state can actually cause Guwahati. Though the citizens in many localities suffered huge and irreparable loss, it is unfortunate that the authorities failed to provide any kind of succour to them, this despite the fact that the floods occurred not because of any fault of the tax-paying citizens. What is now disturbing every citizen, irrespective of whether he or she resides in a flood-prone locality or not, is that five valuable months have elapsed since the August 5 disaster, and nothing visible has come to notice that can give an assurance that such a disaster would not recur in the monsoon of 2025, which is hardly four months away from now. While senior minister Jayanta Mallabaruah has been given the charge of Urban Affairs, including Guwahati, it is good to see that he has announced a slew of ambitious schemes intended to provide solutions, including the development of a robust drainage system in flood-prone areas, collaborative efforts to manage cross-border water inflow, and enhanced community engagement to make Guwahati cleaner and more livable. Important to note, the official website of GMDA admits that unplanned expansion has led to severe encroachment in the wetlands, low-lying areas, and hills and shrinkage of forest cover. These denuded hills and loss of wetlands thus lead to artificial floods and waterlogging. What is now required is to implement these schemes on a war footing.