Waterlogging triggers traffic jam, paralyzes life in Guwahati | Guwahati News - Times of India

Source: The Times of India

Guwahati: Severe traffic jam triggered by waterlogging after incessant rainfall since Sunday night on several roads of the city paralysed normal life for city dwellers on Monday. The heavy rain also triggered a landslide in the Basistha area of the city but no casualties were reported.

Vehicles remained stranded for a long time on Maniram Dewan Road, one of the busiest roads in the city that connects Bamunimaidan with Chandmari on Monday morning, causing immense hardship to commuters.

A commuter on Monday said it took him at least 20 minutes to cross the 200-metre stretch from Chandmari traffic point to the colony bus stoppage as the flood waters caused traffic congestion in the area. Commuters on the road pleaded that the govt should take steps to find solutions to the waterlogging problem.

The ongoing construction of a proposed 6km flyover on the road connecting Dighalipukhuri with Bamunimaidan since December last year has already shrunk the width of the road, leading to vehicular congestion on the stretch on normal days. Waterlogging has only added to the misery.

Though the Guwahati Municipal Corporation set up a temporary pump to flush out floodwaters, the road remained submerged till Monday evening.

Apart from Maniram Dewan Road, the heavy rain since Sunday night inundated Hatigaon, Rukmini Gaon on GS Road, Maligaon, Beltola and Rajgarh areas, including the low-lying areas of Nabin Nagar and Anil Nagar which have been experiencing severe waterlogging after a spell of rain for over a decade now. Several localities remained submerged till late afternoon affecting daily life, also disrupting vehicular movement.

Overflowing sewage water entered many houses in the flood-affected areas and damaged valuable items. While the flood water receded in many localities by noon, several others reeled under water until evening, affecting daily life.

Guwahati received 70 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours from Sunday at 8.30 am, according to a weather report of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati. According to India Meteorological Department's records, heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls occurred at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya.

An IMD bulletin on Monday read, "Under the influence of a strong south-westerly and southerly winds prevailing from the Bay of Bengal to northeastern states in lower tropospheric levels, widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds speeding up to 30-40 kmph likely to occur over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during the next 5 days."

The bulletin added that isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall very likely to occur over Assam and Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh from June17 to June 21 and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura from June 17 to June 19, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Assam and Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh on June 19 and isolated exceptionally heavy rainfall over Meghalaya on June 18.