Waterlogging in Juripar: A decade-long struggle for residents

Guwahati, Dec 13: Although waterlogging is a pressing issue in Guwahati, the government machinery is yet to acknowledge the intensity of the problem to find an effective solution as necessary. The waterlogging problem in the Juripar locality in the greater Panjabari area is one such example of how the state government is making a mockery of the perennial issue.

The waterlogging problem in the area started in 2000, and it has taken a turn for the worse since 2014.Now, the area gets inundated even after a spell of showers, even in the dry season.

During the last two decades, waterlogging damaged many public and private properties worth crores of rupees and compelled a number of people to shift from their own houses to other places during monsoon season. The problem started after excess water during the monsoon from the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra side was diverted to the Juri (stream), which flows alongside the main road of the locality.

The problem turned critical following the filling up of around seven natural water channels in between Sixmile and the Satgaon Army camp point in the name of development in the recent past. Although the load of water had increased, the breadth and depth of the Juri have decreased substantially due to encroachment and other development works.

As a result, it continues to overflow even in the dry season. The Juri, which originates at a height of 830 feet on the Meghalaya hill, near the Ganesh Mandir, is the original source of water from the hills to Silsako Beel. Its original name was Bardhuwa River.

It comes down along the eastern side of National Highway, descends near SIPRD, Khanapara, flows through Veterinary College, then between Purabi Dairy and Office of the Commissioner of Panchayat and Rural Development Department, and flows through the Juripar area directly to the Silsako Beel.The story of Juri is an example that should never be repeated in the name of developing Guwahati.

Meanwhile, the load of water in the Juri has increased further as another water channel originating from Meghalaya and connected to the Pamohi River earlier was blocked near Koinadhora. As a result, the excess water of the channel has naturally been diverted to the Juri.The jury is actually about 10 feet deep.

But due to the non-removal of accumulated silt, its bed has risen, and it is now hardly two feet deep."For a long time, we have been enduring the waterlogging problem. Now, after every rainfall, our locality is inundated with overflowing water from the Juri. During monsoons, most of the time we remain stuck inside the house due to artificial floods.

As a precautionary measure, during monsoons my wife and I shift to the residence of our son in Hyderabad. Like us, many people are compelled to shift to other locations during monsoons, as living amid the artificial flood for elderly people like us is a risky affair," BD Adhikari, a resident of the area, told The Assam Tribune. Adhikari noted that the diversion of excess water from nearby areas during the monsoon is the main reason behind the waterlogging of the Juripar locality.

Ahindra Das, another local of the area, stated that due to the artificial flood, many people were compelled to vacate their own houses, which they had built by spending their hard-earned money, and shift to rented houses in other places of the city.

"Due to the lack of proper planning and the encroachment menace, the Juri, which was a river in the past, has turned into a narrow drain. So, it must be dredged properly to divert the water to Silsako.

There is no other way to solve the problem," he said. According to Das, along with the waterlogging, residents of Juripar are also enduring acute scarcity of potable water due to groundwater depletion. The area is yet to be covered by any government water supplyt people rely on water purchased from private water suppliers. scheme. Now, most people rely on water purchased from private water suppliers.

"The waterlogging in this area turned critical after 2014. Due to the construction of a number of drains in the highway, the load of water coming from the Meghalaya hill has increased in the Juri. A number of natural channels were destroyed in nearby areas and converted into roads in the name of development in the recent past, which makes the situation more complicated," educationist and a resident of the area, Dr. Gopal Chandra Medhi, said.

He noted that the problem will not be solved without dredging the Juri and diverting the excess water through other routes during the monsoon season. Locals also pointed out that the broken guard wall in some parts of the Juri has turned into a death trap for pedestrians and two-wheel riders. So, it is an urgent need to start widening and dredging the Juri and turning it into a covered drain, locals stated.

By-

Manash Pratim Dutta