Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Hour-long downpour throws life in city out of gear

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 4 - An hour-long downpour in the evening once again transformed the city into a deluge of water and filth, bringing normal life of the citizens to a grinding halt.

The rainwater inundated city roads, by-lanes and residential areas, giving the people a harrowing time for hours.

The inadequacy of the existing drainage was exposed once again, as people braved ankle to knee-deep waters in many areas to pursue their routine activities. Matters stood worsened by the severe traffic congestion that invariably accompanies a deluge.

As usual, the RG Baruah Road and its adjoining localities such as Nabin Nagar, Anil Nagar, Chandmari, etc., bore the brunt of the rain-induced ravages. Ganeshguri, parts of the GS Road and Panjabari, among other areas, also witnessed severe water-logging.

To add to the commuters� woes, the public transport services including city buses and trekkers virtually came to a halt for quite some time following the rain. People were caught unawares by the situation, and the fact that the deluge occurred in the evening posed a grave danger to those who dared to walk on overflowing roads and footpaths with manholes in the dark.

Water-logging, a persistent menace in the capital city, has shown little signs of abatement with a single burst of shower being enough to send the city reeling under artificial flood. Over the years, hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent to mitigate the problem, but the results have been far from inspiring.

Encroachment, deforestation and earth-cutting on the hills as also the rapid shrinkage of wetlands in the face of mounting anthropogenic pressures have been a major cause of the city�s water-logging. The State government, however, has failed to exhibit the kind of sincerity required for tackling the dual menace, with hardly any intervention coming forth from it to stop the vandalism being perpetrated on the hills and wetlands.

�Over the years, hundreds of crores have been spent for ridding the problem of water-logging, but the end result so far has been a big zero, with the menace of artificial floods worsening than before. A complete overhaul of the drainage besides strict protection of the wetlands and hills is the need of the hour,� a resident of Chandmari said.

Next Story