Guwahati: Bishnujyoti Path in Hatigaon Faces Severe Water-Logging

The artificial flood in Guwahati has become a long-term problem and the government has not come up with a permanent solution. Most of the areas reel under flood during monsoon and the same is the case with Bishnujyoti Path, Hatigaon as it faces severe water-logging during the rainy season.

The road was newly constructed and completed at the end of 2016 at a cost of almost 2 Crores of public funds.

The estimate was prepared based on the fact that the old road also faced water-logging issues. "The road construction quality was completely sub-standard without any planning, supervision with inferior quality of materials and haphazard construction. Even during the construction process, various anomalies and improper construction methods were highlighted to the contractor and PWD officials, however no corrective action was taken," said a local resident Jayanta Barua.

He said that the water logging issues started immediately after the road construction was complete as the drains were not cleared by the contractor and drains were filled with construction debris. Despite of several complaints to GMC & PWD officials, no action was taken, he added.

"The water-logging issue has started becoming more severe now with the entire road becoming submerged in sewer and flood water even after a small rain shower," Barua added.

"We have complained repeatedly to Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), PWD officials about the plight, but all our requests are completely ignored and sidelined. This lackadaisical and indifferent attitude of the GMC & PWD officials smacks of corruption and negligence. Even though approx 2 Crores of public funds were used for the construction of the road, it has gone to waste due to poor planning and complete lack of supervision. The Executive Engineer of PWD should be held accountable for this shoddy construction and wastage of public funds," he stated.

The city is affected by flash flood and heavy rainfall during the summer. The rainwater coming from the Meghalaya and surrounding hills caused major devastation of the roads and drains, heavy siltation and the tremendous problem of waterlogging. Some of the areas of the city used to be inundated and those areas under the flash flood water for several days in 3 to 4 waves damaging the existing infrastructure including the government and public properties. The city of Guwahati experiences recurrent flood inundation and severe waterlogging in the occurrence of storm events and particularly during the rainy season, it has become a public grievance.

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