Assam: Guwahati comes to a standstill after heavy spell of rain

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: A sharp shower lasting around two hours, starting at 2.45 PM, completely paralyzed Guwahati as roads turned into rivers of dirty water flowing out of the drains or down the hills. The city’s denizens were never hit like this before, over any stretch of time, and they will not forget the day in a hurry. The heavy spell of rain lay bare the misplaced pride of the powers that be over Guwahati, begging the tag of ‘smart city’.

The two-hour-long downpour lasted until about 4.45 PM. By then, the intensity of the rainfall had died down, but the two-hour spell turned the city’s streets and by-lanes, including parts of the Guwahati Bypass, into raging rivers. The pride of Guwahati, the GS road, was among the worst-hit in terms of traffic movement, as commuters remained stranded for hours on end. Rukminigaon Point, adjoining the capital, Dispur, turned into a sea of murky water. The movement of vehicles, from two-wheelers to four-wheelers and more, became impossible as nothing could navigate across the point at any cost.

A team from The Sentinel came across a family from Meghalaya in a vehicle at around 9 p.m. They complained that they had been stranded at Rukminigaon for over five hours. “We have never seen waterlogging like this. This is horrible. We don’t know what will happen to us tonight,” the person in the driver’s seat said.

The severe waterlogging in the area is the result of the Bahini River overflowing.

A similar situation was witnessed at Chandmari, Hatigaon, Rajdhani Masjid area, Sijubari, Downtown area, Dwaraka Nagar, Panjabari, parts of Christian Basti, Bhangagarh, Bamunimaidam, B Borooah College road, etc. Even the outskirts of the city, like Jorabat, the Guwahati Bypass, VIP Road, and others, suffered the same fate.

The worst aspect of the situation is that even school buses with students, ambulances carrying the sick, and other people headed for different destinations were stuck along with the common people. In many places, two-wheelers and cars were seen damaged and reeling in the flood waters.

Nobody and no place was spared, and even the Assam Assembly Secretariat, the MLA hostel, and the seat of the government in Dispur were waterlogged. Many parts of the city remained blacked out as the electricity was cut. 

This day will remain forever etched in the memory of the city’s denizens and those visiting the biggest city in the Northeast. It should also serve as a lesson for the state government, as disaster management services as well as traffic police personnel were nowhere to be seen.

The situation in the Six-Mile, Rukminigaon area remained unchanged until 11 p.m., as the whole stretch of GS Road remained unmotorable. People were stranded in their vehicles for hours on end, fatigued, hungry, and helpless.

 Also read: Committee formed to mitigate flood and waterlogging issues in Guwahati city (sentinelassam.com)

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