Every year Guwahati, the most prominent city of Assam that hosts the state capital is overwhelmed by so called “Artificial Floods”. This year of 2022 has been a relatively more wet year right from the advent of February, in this part of the country, as incandescent pouring of rains commenced much earlier than its usual monsoon timeline. Fore-mostly, unlike other urban centres, the topography of Guwahati is extremely vivid. The city is inundated by several hills in and around. Plus, the mighty Asian river “The Brahmaputra” also passes through the heart of the city, making it more flood prone. Due to an uneven landscape, the drainage system of Guwahati often crumbles to a 1-2 hour of rainfall. The last two decades has seen exorbitant increase in the population of the city. Using loopholes in the land allocation system, various new dwellers have chosen to opt for the easy way out for their habitation in Guwahati. For which, the numerous hills across the city, over a horizon of 20 years have transformed now into residential plateaus, particularly for the people of low income groups, within the growing city. This year alone, landslides have recked havoc within various elevated topographies including the Kamakhya Hill, Boragaon Hill, Kharghuli Hill, Sarania Hills, Narakasur Hill, Sarumotoria Hill, and so forth. Several lives have also been lost in these landslides. It will be politically uncanny to question as to how these settlements that have mushroomed over the years did go unseen from the perspective of successive governments at Dispur. The silence of the “Nature Activists” is also pitiable in regards to voicing for the vivid ecosystem of Guwahati.
Coming back to our core point of introspecting about the Guwahati Floods, we may already have the answers ready that seem quite promising on paper, but the implementation of the same takes the toll! In the month of October to February, each year, there is this five month long window for the GMC (Guwahati Municipal Corporation) to clean and dredge the various drains and larger connecting drainage canals (eg. The Bharalu Canal, passing through Guwahati), and so forth. The yearly blocking of the canals within the city can be attributed to ignorance and lack of civic sense on the part of several roadside businesses and the irresponsible passersby, as most of them use these small drains/canals to dump their wastes and get rid of their garbage bags. Right when the winter ends, the first showers of the year (every year), the small drains are blocked immediately creating a situation of artificial flood and water-logging issue at multiple areas of Guwahati City. Plus, the size of the drains are unscientific and inadequate to handle continuous rains for two to three days, even if, hypothetically stating, the drains had been dredged and are kept void of plastic wastes. It is a policy paralysis that has had its roots several years ago when Guwahati was quickly getting populated and people bought plots and land holdings within the city and eventually raised high commercial and residential buildings without letting out adequate room for building generous drains and bye-lanes connecting the main roads.
Today, Guwahati is a dense city, with narrow lanes and even narrower drains. It is a pity that the most developed city from the North-East of India didn’t have an active “Master plan” for a long-term development and management, in the 90s or even during the early 2000s. The battle is not lost yet for Guwahati. The Government under Dr Sarma, and the Municipal Corporation of the city if envisages for, there can actually be a Guwahati that can withstand a week long of rains and still not worry about artificial flooding, provided it can enforce proper land regulation act and check for permissions for buildings and houses irrespective of the property having a residential or commercial attribution. Stricter actions should be taken against those who are identified as regular offenders of throwing garbage into the drainage canals. This would need for the local government to install CCTV cameras at the various crossing points of bye-lanes, sub-byelanes, connecting roads and so forth. Plus, the Government should invest more into developing a robust public grievance system that can work on real-time basis, so that the members of the general public can register their complains in irregularities of GMC garbage collection, delay in drain dredging works, report against individuals who are responsible in throwing plastic wastes or garbage into the outlet drains, and so forth.
Tackling the landslide problem in 2022, is an enormous and uphill endeavour for the GMC and the Dispur Government. The plethora of people that reside on the hills of Guwahati can range roughly between 20-25% of the total population of the city. This huge population has also transcended into becoming a vote bank for many, in the elections, irrespective of political parties. Also, in 2022 we live in an era where every life and every citizenry matters. Thus, of late, the political parties have been resistive towards acting actively on the burning issue of encroachment by the poor and the needy. Obliquely, as the city grows, its demands also changes. The common taxpayers want a landslide free and flood free Guwahati, and it shouldn’t seem too much to ask for, to those whom the residents vote every recurring elections. Thus, the government should try to increase the “green cover” in and around Guwahati, and begin with a long term process of relocating the houses over these encroached topographies to other plain areas, subject to consultations and policy frameworks, of course.
Thank you.
– Banraj Kalita