Guwahati deluge derails daily life: Students miss exams; patients stranded

Guwahati, May 31: Guwahati came to a standstill on Friday as relentless rainfall triggered artificial flooding across the city, leaving residents grappling with widespread disruption.

Among the worst affected were students and those in need of urgent medical care. Several students, caught in knee-deep water and stranded on inundated streets, either arrived late for their examinations or were forced to miss them altogether.

The crisis extended to patients as well, with flooded roads and a near-complete breakdown of public transport preventing many from reaching hospitals in time.

City resident and NEF Law College student Paulson Prasad said several of his batchmates reached their examination centres late, while others missed their final semester exams altogether due to the artificial flooding that crippled Guwahati on Friday.

“Some of us, appearing for our final semester exams, reached almost an hour or even two hours late because of severe waterlogging and the lack of transportation. I commute from Hatigaon on a bike, but this time, I had to leave it at a friend’s place and walk through the flooded streets to reach college. A friend who lives in Six Mile couldn’t even leave his house due to waist-deep water,” Prasad said.

He added that uncertainty now looms over whether those who missed the exams will be allowed to appear for a re-test. “Being in our final semester, we’re really anxious. We don’t know if the university will accommodate us with a re-examination because of the floods,” he said.

Sumitra Gogoi, another city resident, had to tend to her ailing octogenarian mother during a medical emergency in Bharalumukh. She recounted the ordeal she faced returning home through submerged roads.

“My mother needed immediate medical attention, and I was with her in Bharalumukh. I travelled from Maligaon to Jalukbari, and then along the National Highway, which was heavily flooded. Areas like Radisson Blu, Garchuk, and Lokhra were completely waterlogged. It took me four hours to reach home to my mother,” she said.

Meanwhile, responding to the crisis, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah, Guwahati Mayor Mrigen Sarania and officials of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) inspected several areas inundated by urban floods in the city.

“Our long-term plan to mitigate the issue is to build road-cum-drain systems. Railings have already been installed, but even that hasn’t proved sufficient. Let’s see how much progress we can make after this year’s monsoons,” he told the press at Juripar.

The GMC deployed drainage pumps to assist water evacuation in severely affected areas, including Last Gate, Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Bhangagarh, Rukminigaon, Birubari, Bormotoria, and Hatigaon.

Meanwhile, the GMC’s Safai Mitras worked through the night to clear plastics and garbage clogging the drains in several parts of the city, including Barowari, Latasil, and Uzan Bazar.