Heavy rain inundates Guwahati, normal life affected

Guwahati, Sep 1 (PTI) A spell of heavy rain early on Sunday inundated several arterial roads and residential areas in Assam’s Guwahati, disrupting vehicular movement and causing inconvenience to residents of the capital city of the northeastern state.

People were seen wading through knee-deep waters in some areas of the city while the water level reached up to the chest in several localities.

Inundation was reported from Zoo Road, Nabin Nagar, Ganeshguri, Hedayetpur, Guwahati Club, Ulubari, Hatigaon, Gita Nagar, Maligaon, Lachit Nagar, Chandmari, Panjabari, Jorabat, Jatia, Jyotikuchi and Ghoramara and RG Baruah Road areas.

The three-hour downpour also led to waterlogging in GS Road, Anil Nagar, VIP Road, Tarun Nagar, Rajgarh Road, Jorabat, Rukmini Gaon, Survey and Chatribari areas in the city.

Vehicles on GS Road were stopped at Dispur from moving further towards Choy Mile due to flooding in Rukmini Gaon area. They were also diverted through the Last Gate point along Survey-Beltola Road, which was also submerged.

Rainwater accumulated in hundreds of houses in the ‘smart’ city.

Traffic jams were reported from almost all localities in the city with vehicles stranded due to inundated roads. Ambulances were stuck for hours with patients facing severe hardship.

There were reports of power cuts in many areas, causing inconvenience to city residents.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati has issued a ‘yellow alert’ in and around the city with the prediction of heavy rainfall at isolated places.

A ‘yellow alert’ stands for watch and be updated.

The regional centre of the Indian Meteorological Department said that waterlogging in some areas of Dispur and the Sonapur circle would occur.

There is a possibility of a reduction in visibility and damage to vulnerable structures due to heavy rainfall during the day, it said.

People were advised to avoid visiting landslide-prone localities and areas of waterlogging and refrain from working in the fields during thunderstorms/lightning.

Residents of Guwahati faced a horrendous situation on August 5 as a spell of heavy rain left people stranded for 7-8 hours on their vehicles till midnight. School children were in their buses till 11 pm.

The Gauhati High Court had on August 7 said the time has come to deal with the problem of flooding in the state capital and the government is required to take steps to resolve the issue permanently.

The court asked the administration to submit a plan to mitigate the crisis.

The Housing and Urban Affairs Department, in its affidavit, told the high court that efforts were being initiated to tackle such situations in the city.

Stating that the Assam government was “not serious” in solving perennial waterlogging problems in the state capital, the Gauhati High Court had on June 26 come down heavily for not responding to its repeated notices and slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 each to four departments concerned.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on August 9 accused a private university in neighbouring Meghalaya of engaging in a “flood jihad” by demolishing hills on its campus to build new structures, which he claimed had led to large-scale waterlogging in Guwahati.