GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students’ Union will have a joint meeting with the Kamrup metro district administration and representatives from National Highways Authority of India next week to discuss ways to clear clogged drains and prevent flash floods in the Jorabat area near the Meghalaya border.
“One of the root causes of flash floods in Jorabat during monsoon apparently is the clogging of drains with the accumulation of soil sliding from the hills of Meghalaya where earth cutting is rampant. This key aspect will be discussed among other issues in a meeting with the district administration and NHAI next week,” Dibyajyoti Medhi, general secretary of AASU, Kamrup metro district committee told The Shillong Times on Saturday.
An important junction, Jorabat connects Guwahati to Meghalaya, Barak Valley, Mizoram and Tripura through NH 6 and Upper Assam through NH-37. Over the years, flash floods triggered by a few minutes of heavy downpour during monsoon have affected commuters in the area.
“Besides, a lot of cow dung (most of the localities are inhabited by dairy farmers) also flows along with the rain water downwards from the hills and clogs culverts in the area upon drying. We would also appeal to the district administration to take up the matter with its counterpart in Ri Bhoi district so as to mitigate the primary cause of flooding. Earth cutting, we feel, should not be allowed near national highways by Meghalaya,” Medhi said.
Encroachment and haphazard construction work in the area between Nine Mile and Jorabat also blocks drains and triggers waterlogging, prompting Sonapur revenue circle authorities to conduct an eviction drive against petty traders/unauthorised settlers in the area on May 14.
Asked about the status of the eviction drive, Kamrup metro deputy commissioner, Virendra Mittal said around 12 to 15 shops by the NH-37 at 9th Mile near North East Cancer Hospital along with around 20 roadside shops at Jorabat were evicted on May 14.
“Further clearance of the encroachment by NH-40 could not be done as they (shop owners) had approached the court, which had given temporary injunction till the next date of hearing,” Mittal told this correspondent.
Members of AASU’s Dimoria unit and Jorabat branch had on May 24 stopped drain construction work (at two locations between Jorabat and Byrnihat) by the MBL, a construction company, asking the firm to clear a stretch of the debris-clogged drain from 9th Mile to Jorabat.
Such has been the extent of clogging that the drain (22-feet wide according to official records) constructed to carry floodwater from 9th Mile to Jorabat and onwards towards the river in Byrnihat has been allegedly reduced to just two to three feet at some points. Residents allege that the gradient of the drain built by MBL does not facilitate proper drainage as well.
“Representatives from MBL and RITES, the consultant engaged by NHAI to monitor work carried out by the firm in the area, will also be present in next week’s meeting,” Medhi said.
There is a technical problem here as the area in question is under the jurisdiction of the gaon panchayat and not the district administration.
“Neither can NHAI allot funds for drain cleaning nor does the gaon panchayat have the funds to allot for the work. So we are looking at finding a permanent solution to the problem,” Medhi said.