Guwahati floods: Amid torrential rain and heavy flooding in Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged all residents to remain indoors. He also urged people to avoid using vehicles even if stepping out for urgent work.
"Guwahati is experiencing another round of heavy rain. We request everyone to stay indoors and avoid using vehicles unless absolutely necessary. Additionally, please avoid vehicular movement towards the downtown hospital areas on GS Road," he said in an X post.
Large stretches of the GS Road and other areas, such as Khanapara, Chandmari, Pandu, Sarania, Rehabari, and Beltola have been submerged due to heavy rain for the past few days. In a statement on Tuesday, the Chief Minister's Office said: "Along with record rain in hills of surrounding Meghalaya, a flash flood situation developed in parts of Guwahati."
The CMO further said that Khanapara received 132 mm of rainfall within 90 minutes on Monday, which was "almost 20-25% of the total rainfall received by the city in the entire monsoon season".
Himanta Blames Meghalaya Private University For Guwahati Floods
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said Guwahati received 25% of the season’s rainfall on just Monday. "Guwahati's drainage system is not equipped to handle such volume of water. We shall have to upgrade our infrastructure for such days by acquiring land to build a robust discharge system."
Blaming Meghalaya's USTM University for the floods in Guwahati, CM Himanta said the institute built its campus in the part of Meghalaya that comes down to Khanapara by cutting down an entire hill. Earlier, water used to flow to Guwahati slowly. However, the rampant destruction of hills has resulted in flooding."
He said the construction should have been protested by the previous governments. "I shall speak to the Meghalaya CM, but the damage has already been done," Himanta said.