Assam: Flood is the best leveller; why doesn’t DMC tend to be?

A Correspondent

DIBRUGARH: As monsoon clouds gather over Upper Assam after the pre-monsoon lashed the region, Dibrugarh Municipal Corporation (DMC) is busy clearing the streets. A pattern that emerges on a closer look is that the powers that be serve eviction notices to the poor, while the powerful ones go scot-free.

The Dibrugarh Town Protection drain, once 8-10 feet wide, is the city’s main defence against flooding. It carries rainwater from Seujpur through densely populated areas to the Sessa River. Today, encroachers gobbled up 5.56 km of this drain inside the town. In some places, the drain has constricted to 2-3 feet. Encroachers have constructed buildings, boundary walls, schools, and commercial establishments directly over the drain.

The results are waterlogging and urban flooding affecting lakhs of residents.

DMC’s recent “massive eviction drive” targeted roadside vendors across the city. Vendors, who have sold vegetables, clothes, and tea for decades, were thrown out.

“The vending zone has been allotted to the street vendors, but now all the area has been transformed into parking areas. It’s injustice to the vendors,” says Madan Shah, president of the All Assam Roadside Businessmen Welfare Association. “They have forcibly evicted the vendors from their area,” he said.

 Meanwhile, the situation on H.S. Road and Paltanbazar presents a contrasting narrative. A private hospital occupies a major section of the drain. Schools and commercial establishments erected their boundary walls by encroaching upon the drain’s course. Strangely enough, the authorities do not issue any notices to them, as if they are ignoring the situation.

“The administration should take urgent measures to clear the encroachment,” says a local resident.

Floods are one of the best levellers that treat all—paupers and princes—alike. When the DTP drain overflows, water enters homes and shops across Dibrugarh.

If DMC is genuinely committed to safeguarding Dibrugarh this monsoon, it must enforce the same standards for everyone who violates the law.

Also read: Encroached Topajan Drain Turns Historic Lifeline into Flood Hazard in Dibrugarh