Guwahati, Aug 7: A university on the Assam-Meghalaya border has become the centre of controversy not for education or related issues, but for flash floods of Guwahati.
Failing to solve the flash floods problem in Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blamed the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) for blocking the water flow from the Meghalaya hills to Guwahati which is the root cause of flash floods in Guwahati.
The University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) is the first State Private University of Science & Technology in the entire North East India. The University is sponsored by the ERD Foundation, Guwahati. The University has been established in Assam-Meghalaya border at Baridua, 9th mile, opposite to the CRPF Camp, Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya.
Assam Chief Minister on Wednesday stated that he plans to discuss this issue with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma to find out a solution.
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“I will talk to the Meghalaya Chief Minister on this issue. But the damage is already done. Now the only way is that the water would have to be diverted to Deepor Beel or Shilsaku Beel,” Sarma told reporters in the sidelines of a passing out parade of the 981 constables of Assam Forest Protection Force Members at Lachit Borphukan Police Academy, Dergaon.
“USTM has dug up a big hill, taking advantage of their geographic location in Guwahati and Meghalaya. If somebody visits USTM, they will see that more than 4-5 hills have been removed to construct the university,” Sarma said.
“At the time of setting up the university, the Assam government should have taken up the issue with the Meghalaya counterpart. Earlier, water used to flow slowly from the Meghalaya hills. But after the USTM was established, water flows unprecedentedly to the plain areas of Guwahati,” he also said.
“At that time, the Assam government should have talked with the Meghalaya government during the setting up of this university. They should have permitted it to be constructed at a farther location. A DPS (Delhi Public School) was also constructed at the same place,” the Chief Minister said.
“Taking advantage of the geographic location, some people from Guwahati went to Meghalaya and set up this university. They also cut down the hills,” the Chief Minister also said.
Sarma said Guwahati received 25% of the season’s rainfall in one day on Monday. “The drains we have already constructed cannot handle this amount of water. We face such a situation once or twice every year. During these days, the situation goes out of our control,” Sarma said and stressed the need for improved infrastructure and better planning to manage the heavy rainfall and prevent flooding in the city.
The Chief Minister said to control the flash floods, they have to construct drains of double the size. “We will need to acquire land from people to make this possible which is beyond our financial capacity. We should not be emotional; rather, efforts should be made to resolve the issue practically,” he said.’
“On the day before yesterday, there was a traffic jam, even as the water receded within 2 to 3 hours. This smart city cannot handle such an amount of water. We have to go for the next level of a smart city,” he further said.
“We will have to upgrade our infra for such days by going in for land acquisition to build a robust discharge system,” he added.
Meanwhile, Assam Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal has attributed the severe flooding in Guwahati to water from neighbouring Meghalaya, citing the red colour of the floodwater as evidence.
Singhal pointed out that the red colour of the floodwater is due to the red soil from Meghalaya.
On Wednesday evening, the Chief Minister chaired a high-level meeting with the line departments to take stock of the situation of floods.
Later taking to X, Sarma wrote: “Yesterday, Ri-Bhoi district in Meghalaya received record rainfall of nearly 100 mm. Heavy rainfall in the hills along with rains of 60 mm in Guwahati. This 90 minutes of rain was nearly 25% of the rainfall the city receives during the entire monsoon season. This resulted in extraordinary flash floods in parts of the state capital.”
Yesterday, Ri-Bhoi district in Meghalaya received record rainfall of nearly 100 mm. Heavy rainfall in the hills along with rains of 60 mm in Guwahati- this 90 minutes of rains was nearly 25% of rain fall the city receives during the entire monsoon season. This resulted in… pic.twitter.com/M7xhxgJT7M
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 6, 2024
The Chief Minister further informed that plans are afoot to work out a “comprehensive solution” to the issue based on an “early warning and quick response mechanism”.
“We will also be in touch with the Meghalaya government to implement a real-time coordination protocol,” his post added.
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