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Heavy shower hits traffic at Beltola, Ganeshguri

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 22 � A heavy shower that lashed parts of the capital city on Wednesday brought traffic to a standstill at areas such as Beltola, Express Highway, and Ganeshguri.

Bringing respite to the Guwahatians whose summer woes had been compounded by long duration of power cuts, the skies poured down after 3.30 pm. The rain spell lasting for more than one and half hour no doubt provided the much awaited succour, but also exposed the drawbacks of the gateway to the North East by flooding many residential areas in Dispur including Panjabari.

It needs to be mentioned here that artificial flooding has become a perennial problem in the capital city, with some areas getting deluged even at a slight downpour. Though this problem has been raised by different organizations and conscious citizens, the predicament is still on. The drains remain clogged, encroachment continues unabated and the city continues to expand in an unplanned manner contributing to the deteriorating situation.

Today�s rains disrupted traffic at the Express Highway, Beltola, Ganeshmandir area as the arterial roads were submerged by water. Vehicles moved at a snail pace and those returning from office were stranded.

As is always the case during a rainy day, the pedestrians had a harrowing time negotiating their way through knee deep water as drains and roads became one.

�I have become habituated to such a situation in Guwahati. People have to change their attitude and the government has to be serious about the issue of artificial flooding if the problem has to be resolved,� said Pallabi Barthakur, a young professional working in Guwahati for the last five years.

It was a day for the rickshaw pullers once again as they charged exorbitant fare from the passengers. �I had to pay Rs 30 to the rickshaw puller as he had to pull through water logged bylanes. On a normal day, the fare for plying through such a distance is just Rs 5,� said Pallabi.

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