Assam Chief Minister to discuss flooding issue with Meghalaya couterpart after flash floods in Guwahati

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced plans to discuss the flooding issue with his Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad Sangma, after severe flash floods hit Guwahati on Monday. Sarma attributes the flooding to the activities of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), which he claims has blocked the water flow from the Meghalaya hills into Guwahati. This incident is said to be the root cause of the recent flash floods.

Sarma explained that the construction activities by USTM have involved significant alterations to the landscape, fundamentally changing water flow patterns. “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,” he stated.

The Chief Minister went on to elaborate that USTM’s establishment involved significant geographical modifications. He said, “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.”

At the same time, Sarma put some responsibility on the Assam government for not addressing the issue when the university was set up. He mentioned, “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 emphasized the need for planning in such projects in the future. “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. Taking advantage of the geographic location, some people from Guwahati went to Meghalaya and set up this university. They also cut down the hills,” he said.

Sarma highlighted the magnitude of the rainfall contributing to the floods. “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.”He pointed out the infrastructural needs to manage such heavy rainfall and mitigate flooding in the future. “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 explained.”The Chief Minister added, “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.”

“We will have to upgrade our infra for such days by going in for land acquisition to build a robust discharge system,” he added.

Assam Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal also commented on the flooding, attributing it to water from Meghalaya. He noted the red colour of the floodwater as evidence. Singhal said, “The red colour of the floodwater is due to the red soil from Meghalaya.”

Sarma had previously stated on X, “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 minute 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.”

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