Ashok Singhal attributes Guwahati’s urban flooding to water flow from Meghalaya

Guwahati, August 6: State Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal has attributed the unprecedented urban flooding in Guwahati on August 5 to the severe flow of water from neighboring Meghalaya.

Playing the "Man vs. Nature" card, Minister Singhal explained that the heavy flow of water from hilly Meghalaya, combined with intense rainfall in Guwahati, led to the urban flooding that brought the city to a standstill on Monday evening.

“You can't fight nature. I won't say that work on this regard haven't been done, but we have been unable to halt the flow of water from Meghalaya. To make things worse, it also poured quite heavily yesterday,” he told the press, on Tuesday.

To substantiate his point, the Minister went to the extent of highlighting the colour of the floodwater in major areas, noting that it is red because it originates from neighboring Meghalaya, in contrast to the black water typical of Guwahati.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Minister Singhal has blamed flow of water from Meghalaya for Guwahati’s urban deluge.

Earlier in June, the Urban Affairs Minister had made a similar statement, asserting that unless the administration finds a way to channel water from Meghalaya directly to the Brahmaputra or Deepor Beel, urban flooding in Guwahati will persist.

Meanwhile, Guwahati continues to suffer from severe urban flooding, with several areas still waterlogged more than 24 hours after an hour-long downpour.

On Tuesday morning, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were deployed in areas such as Rukiminigaon to rescue stranded people and provide basic relief material such as drinking water and food.

As SDRF and resilient residents continue to fight this urban deluge, questions are been raised about the administration's preparedness about this recurring issue.