Dibrugarh: A few hours of relentless rainfall brought the Tinsukia town to its knees on Saturday, as massive waterlogging submerged more than a dozen localities and brought life to a grinding halt in one of upper Assam's busiest commercial hubs.
Severe Inundation Across Town
The sudden and intense downpour triggered severe inundation across town, with Rangagora Road, Chaliha Nagar, AT Road, Parbotia Road, Jyotinagar, Bordoloi Nagar, Court Tiniali, Borguri, Raja Ali Road, Thandagarh, Milanpally, Amrit Tamuly Road, VIP Road and the West Sripuria area among the worst affected. Residents were seen wading through knee-deep, murky floodwaters as streets turned into rivers, shops shuttered and vehicles struggled to navigate the flooded roads.
Residents Caught Off Guard
The scale and speed of the flooding caught many off guard. "I have never seen the water rise this fast. We barely had time to move our goods. The drains are simply not working. They are either blocked or too small to handle any serious rain," said Mukesh Sahu, a shopkeeper on Rangagora Road whose establishment was inundated.
Municipal Authorities Respond
Tinsukia Municipal Board chairman Pulak Chetia visited the affected localities on Saturday. He acknowledged the severity of the crisis, noting that a severe drainage bottleneck lay at the heart of the town's recurring flooding woes. "We are assessing the situation carefully and will take necessary steps to address the drainage failures," he said, while expressing concern over the state of the town's aging stormwater infrastructure.
Pre-Monsoon Shower Raises Alarm
The monsoon, which typically arrives in the region in mid-June, is still roughly three weeks away and Saturday's chaos, triggered by a mere pre-monsoon shower, has set alarm bells ringing across the town. "If this is what happens before the monsoon, what will we do when the actual rains come. Every year we face this. Every year the authorities promise to fix it. Nothing changes," said Bhargav Baruah, a resident of Jyotinagar.
Chronic Drainage Issues
Tinsukia's waterlogging problem is not new. The town's drainage network, largely inadequate for its growing population and expanding commercial activity, has long been identified as a pressing civic issue. Choked drains, encroachments on natural water channels and unplanned construction have compounded the problem over the years, turning even moderate rainfall into a civic emergency.
