The Assam Trinamool Congress demanded for a comprehensive inquiry for the allocation and utilization of funds assigned for flood control in Guwahati. They claimed there were circumstances of mismanagement and financial irregularities by the authorities, which led to a lack of effective flood control measures in the capital city.
On 6th October, Dilip Sharma, the media chairman of the Assam Trinamool Congress, blamed this distressing situation as mismanagement by the state government. He argued that the primary cause of this agreement stems from the government’s failure to maintain and clean the drainage system in the city, leaving residents to struggle along with these flooding incidents.
Over the years, residents of Guwahati had to undergo challenging circumstances resulting from the floods. Despite the government’s assurances and promises to address this problem, these commitments have turned out to be empty pledges, as the issue of artificial floods continued. Sharma further highlighted the absence of prompt action by both the (GMC) Guwahati Municipal Corporation and (GMDA) Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority in avoiding flash floods within the city.
Continuous rainfall in recent days has resulted in sudden flash floods and extensive water-logging across multiple areas in Guwahati, causing significant distress to the residents. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted the likelihood of very heavy rainfall in Assam from October 5th to 7th. Additionally, IMD has issued similar predictions for other Northeastern states, including Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur. Furthermore, it has been indicated that there is an expectation of high rainfall in the extreme southern regions of Peninsular India, low rainfall is anticipated in the Northeast and East Central parts of India, while normal rainfall is expected in other areas of the country during the period from October 12th to 18th.
In October 2021, it came to light that Guwahati Smart City Limited had acquired 10 super-sucker machines at a substantial cost of Rs.26 crore. The purpose was to utilize them for cleaning the city’s drains. However, due to insufficient management, these valuable assets were left unused, resulting in a vulnerable situation for flood-prone areas like Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Zoo-Road, Hatigaon, and Gandhi Basti.
As per the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), it was revealed that the authorities were unable to utilize a total of Rs.209 crore in the previous year. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority were not able to allocate 15 crore rupees for drainage cleaning, Rs.12 crore for solid waste management and Rs.16 crore for artificial flood control, as highlighted by the TMC leader.
