Flood Situation In Guwahati Will Worsen In Next 10 Years, Warns Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Chief Minister Sarma added that the construction of five-star hotels and schools in Khanapara hills has only aggravated the situation

Amid Guwahatians battling urban floods almost every other day due to rains lashing the city, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the flood situation in the city is expected to worsen over the next ten years if hill cutting continues in Meghalaya.

“If more hills are cut in Meghalaya and a proper drainage system is not put in place in Guwahati, the flood situation in Guwahati will worsen in the next ten years,” Chief Minister Sarma said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Guwahati today.

Reiterating his stance that the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) is mainly responsible for Guwahati’s flood situation, Chief Minister Sarma said, “We have satellite photographs of USTM from 2011 and 2016. From these photographs, one can gauge the extent of destruction occurring there.”

Chief Minister Sarma further added that the construction of five-star hotels and schools in the area has only aggravated the situation.

When asked about ways to tackle the problem, Chief Minister Sarma said, “We will need to consult experts to find a solution to this problem. Meghalaya will continue to cut hills, and we cannot predict how much will be cut in the next ten years. Therefore, we must construct the city’s drains and sewers accordingly. We will need to broaden the drains, and for this, the public will also need to cooperate.”

“In our urban planning, we never considered the destruction of the Khanapara hills. Now, we will need to restructure our planning based on the amount of hills that will be cut in Meghalaya. This is a new problem, and it will definitely require a scientific solution. We will need to discuss it,” Chief Minister Sarma added.

On August 5, Guwahati faced one of its worst floods caused by heavy rains and rain water gushing down from neighbouring state of Meghalaya bringing the entire city to a grinding halt.

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