Guwahati: A student walks on a temporary bridge at the waterlogged campus of a college after heavy rains, in Guwahati.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday sounded alert about heavy to very heavy rainfall across the Northeast in the next 24-hours amid the flash flood disaster in Sikkim.
"A trough runs from Nagaland to southwest Bihar across the cyclonic circulation associated with the low-pressure area over central parts of Bangladesh and neighbourhood and extends upto 3.1 km above mean sea level. So we are expecting widespread rainfall with heavy to very heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places across the Northeast in the next 24-hours," Sanjay O'Neil Shaw, a scientist at the IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre, situated at Borjhar in Guwahati said in a video message.
Most parts of the Northeast reported heavy rains in the past 24-hours.The forecast prompted state governments in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland sound warning in order to prevent a Sikkim-like disaster. The personnel of the state disaster management authority were instructed to put in place all available means to cater to any emergency situation due to heavy rainfall. The IMD forecast also issued an alert about flash floods.
Urban flooding in Guwahati: Flash floods triggered by heavy rains in the past 24-hours created flash floods in several areas in Assam capital Guwahati. Residents in areas like Chandmari, Panjabari, Sarania, Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar remained stuck in their houses with roads and their houses remaining under waist-deep water. Personnel of the district disaster management authority pressed rubber boats into service in order to reach out to many residents.
The BJP-led government, which promised to make Guwahati a flash-flood free city before the elections in 2021, faced severe criticism from residents for failing to address the problem in the past two years. The daily flood bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said over 2,700 people remained affected by floods in at least 26 villages in Dhemaji and Sivasagar district on Friday.