Unchecked earthcutting in hills behind Noonmati’s rising waterlogging

Guwahati, Jan 30: Rampant earthcutting in the nearby hills of Noonmati, particularly in the areas of Sunsali Grant, has emerged as one of the major reasons behind the artificial floods in the locality.

Due to massive earth-cutting, the water coming from the hillside carries a huge amount of silt, which has reduced the water-carrying capacity of the drainage. As a result, the area, particularly the Kalpa Bhatta Chowk area, gets severely affected by waterlogging after every spell of rain.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, locals of the area said that along with developing the drainage system, the government must take stern action against those who are involved in earth-cutting activities."We have been suffering from the waterlogging problem for a long time. However, since 2019, the intensity of the problem has increased manyfold due to the large number of construction works in the nearby hills. As part of the construction works, earth-cutting activities continue in a rampant manner. Therefore, as long as no action is taken against the earth-cutting activities, the waterlogging problem will persist," a resident of Kalpa Bhatta Chowk told The Assam Tribune.

The resident noted that after every spell of rainfall, the area is inundated by water coming from the Salbari, Nizarapar, and Bhabanipur areas.

"The drainage of the area is very wide and deep. However, the water coming from those areas always carries huge amounts of silt, reducing the water-carrying capacity of the drainage within a short period of time. As a result, water overflows. In the recent past, artificial floods damaged private properties worth crores of rupees in the area," the resident alleged.

Madhu Ranjan Nath, a resident of the Noonmati area, also echoed the same concern and noted that without strict action against rampant earth-cutting, it is not possible to solve the waterlogging problem. He also pointed out the need to develop different bylanes and drains in the area to make the area free from artificial floods.

Talking about other civic issues in the Noonmati area, Nath said, "Scarcity of potable water is a serious issue for us. The Guwahati Jal Board is yet to cover us under the water supply project. We have made repeated requests to the authority concerned in recent times to take steps in this regard, but we are yet to get any concrete results.Depletion of groundwater level in most of the localities has worsened the situation. Now, water is available at a depth of around 700-800 feet. For most people, it is not financially viable to set up such deep boring."

According to Nath, in the last 10 years, due to the increase in the number of apartments, rapid depletion of groundwater level has taken place in the Noonmati area. Now most people rely on private water suppliers. There is a water supply scheme run by the Guwahati Refinery, but it is not adequate, he added.

"Irregular door-to-door garbage collection is another serious issue in the area. As a result, roadside dumping of garbage is very common in the Noonmati area. At the same time, many footpaths of the main road are not safe to use for pedestrians," Nath added.

Pranjal Deka, advisor of Noonmati AASU, pointed out that the government needs to chalk out a proper plan to mitigate the waterlogging issue of the area.

"Apart from waterlogging, pathetic road conditions and lack of street lights and footpaths are some major issues in the area. Locals are also suffering a lot due to the lack of an adequate number of dustbins and irregular collection of garbage, along with the scarcity of potable water. The state government should take immediate measures to address these issues for the welfare of the residents of the Noonmati area," Deka said.

By-

Manash Pratim Dutta