A heavy spell of overnight torrential rainfall brought life to a standstill in Sivasagar town on Saturday, submerging all 14 municipal wards under knee-deep water and turning streets into flowing waterways. The deluge prompted widespread waterlogging and disruption, with residents forced to wade through murky water to reach homes, shops and essential services.
Key localities including Muktinath Chariali, BG Road, Dolmukh Chariali, Melachakar, Phukan Nagar, Amolapatty, HCB Road, ONGC Colony, Babupatty, Boarding Road, GNG Path, Ganapatty and Na Ali were among the worst hit. Shops, schools, homes and major roads remained submerged, severely disrupting daily life across the town. Several main thoroughfares resembled rivers, making movement by car or motorcycle impossible for many residents.
A resident of Dolmukh Chariali, Binu Bora, said, “The water entered our homes within hours. We had to move our belongings to higher ground in the middle of the night. We have lived here for many years but have never seen the entire town waterlogged like this.”
Chairperson of the Sivasagar Municipal Board (SMB) Mrinali Konwar said that the civic body swung into action following the overnight flooding. “We are fully aware of the situation and efforts are underway to clear the waterlogged areas as quickly as possible. Our teams are on the ground and we are working to restore normalcy,” she said.
Residents of several of the affected areas expressed frustration over the extent of the flooding, pointing to longstanding drainage issues within the town as a major contributing factor. Many said that even moderate rainfall in previous years caused localised waterlogging, but Saturday’s overnight downpour resulted in flooding of a scale they had not experienced in recent memory.
The intense rainfall follows the onset of the South West Monsoon over Assam and the Northeast, which officially entered the region on June 7. Meteorological officials have warned that heavy to very heavy rainfall episodes are possible in the coming days, increasing the risk of localised flooding in low-lying urban and rural pockets.
