Guwahati buckles under severe waterlogging, minor boy washed away, mother-son killed in landslides

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 5, 2024

Overnight rainfall triggered severe waterlogging in many parts of Guwahati city on Friday causing immense difficulties for the residents.

The flooding has disrupted daily life, with many roads becoming impassable and properties being inundated.

An eight-year-old boy, Abinash Karmakar was washed away by floodwater at Jyotinagar area of the city at around 11 pm on Thursday.

The boy was travelling with his father in a scooty. It was then that he somehow fell in the drain by the side of the road and was washed away.”

A rescue operation is going on, but the boy is yet to be traced out.

An official from Fire and Emergency Service (F&ESS) said, “We are still searching for the boy.”

SDRF personnel have been put into service for rescue operations.

In another incident, a mother and her five-year-old son lost their lives in a devastating landslide that occurred at 8th mile area of Khanapara in the early hours of Friday.

The landslide happened after overnight rainfall which led to the unstable soil of the hilly area to give way, burying the victims under a massive heap of earth. The landslide has caused the earth to enter the room where the mother and her son were sleeping, filling the room and leaving no space for the duo to escape.

The bodies were recovered from the debris by digging them out with shovels, as recounted by eyewitnesses.

An official of the Kamrup Metro District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said, “The bodies were recovered from the landslide site today morning. The heavy rains from last night caused the earth to engulf the house and the victims got buried beneath it.”

As Guwahati faced heavy rainfall on Thursday night, residents across the city experienced flash floods which extended well until Friday morning.

The majority of the city roads are underwater at Bhangagarh, Wireless, B Borooah Road, Christian Basti, Rajgarh Road, Chabipur, Chandmari, Pandu, Rukmini Nagar and Hatigaonareas.

Road traffic dividers got submerged in Kalapahar, Bhaskarnagar and Wireless.

Water went inside cars in the areas of Kahilipara and Rajgarh, while houses in Hatigaon and Rukmini Nagar saw flood-waters entering. Water levels reached knee-high in several parts of the city as the ill-equipped drainage system was exposed.

The situation persisted well into Friday morning despite the rain receding.

The situation may turn from bad to worse as the Indian meteorological Department (IMD) issued ‘red alert’ for extremely heavy rainfall over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.