SHILLONG, July 15: Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar has welcomed the Assam government’s decision to earmark Rs 150 crore under the proposed Guwahati Ring Road project to address the recurring flash floods at Jorabat, describing it as a positive step towards resolving a long-standing problem that impacts both Assam and Meghalaya.
Dhar said the two neighbouring states must work together to find a lasting solution, as Jorabat serves as the principal gateway connecting Meghalaya with Guwahati and the rest of the Northeast.
Every monsoon, flooding along the corridor disrupts the movement of thousands of commuters, commercial vehicles and essential supplies.
The reaction came after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, responding to a discussion in the Assam Assembly on Wednesday, announced that Rs 150 crore has been earmarked within the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the proposed Guwahati Ring Road project to mitigate flash floods at Jorabat.
The Chief Minister said consultants have been tasked with preparing engineering drawings for the project, which will be technically vetted by IIT Guwahati before execution.
The announcement follows yet another spell of heavy rainfall that submerged stretches of National Highway 6 (NH-6) at Jorabat, triggering severe traffic congestion on the Assam-Meghalaya border and leaving commuters stranded for hours.
Located on the Assam-Meghalaya border, Jorabat has become one of the Northeast’s most flood-prone transport junctions. The affected highway is part of NH-6, which is maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
However, addressing the flooding requires coordination among NHAI, the Assam government, local civic agencies and authorities in Meghalaya.
Assam has consistently maintained that a substantial portion of the flooding is caused by storm water flowing down from the Meghalaya hills during periods of intense rainfall. State officials have also cited hill-cutting, rapid urbanisation and inadequate drainage in the upstream areas as factors that increase runoff into the low-lying stretches of Jorabat.
At the same time, experts have pointed out that inadequate drainage infrastructure, blocked channels and encroachments on the Assam side have also contributed to the recurring inundation, making the issue one that requires coordinated intervention by both states.
For years, authorities have relied on temporary measures such as deploying pumps, desilting drains and diverting traffic whenever heavy rain inundates the highway. Despite these efforts, Jorabat continues to witness severe flooding almost every monsoon, disrupting one of the busiest road corridors connecting Assam with Meghalaya.
The proposed Ring Road intervention marks one of the major attempts to integrate flood mitigation into a large-scale infrastructure project.
However, details of how the Rs 150-crore allocation will be utilised are yet to be made public. It remains unclear whether the funds will be used for storm water drains, retention ponds, culverts, channelisation works or other engineering interventions.
