Guwahati, May 30 (PTI) ‘Red alert’ for very heavy rain has been sounded for almost entire western and southern Assam on Friday with most parts of the state facing an ‘abnormal situation’ due to incessant downpour caused by massive cloud cover over several parts of the Northeast, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
He said the situation is likely to prevail till Saturday evening, and urged people to remain indoors while stressing that the government is prepared to meet any eventuality.
Heavy rainfall has also been recorded in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, further aggravating the situation for Assam, especially its largest city Guwahati which has been hit by massive waterlogging in almost all localities since morning, Sarma added.
“There is a lot of cloud presence due to a deep depression over Bangladesh yesterday. Today, red alert has been issued for most districts of our state and a similar situation is likely to prevail till tomorrow evening,” the chief minister said at a press conference.
“We are reviewing the situation constantly and if there is any change in the forecast tomorrow, we will inform the people accordingly,” he added.
“Today, we are facing nature’s fury… this is an abnormal situation. People should stay indoors as far as possible,” Sarma said.
Sarma said the power connection of 9 lakh people has been cut in the state, besides shutting down 100 transformers in Guwahati to ensure that no accidents occur.
Asked if hill cutting in bordering Meghalaya has aggravated the situation in Guwahati, he maintained that this is not the time to blame any state.
“The Supreme Court has already issued notices to Assam and Meghalaya governments over the issue of hill cutting. My Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma will be coming here on June 2 to discuss this issue,” he added.
As per Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) data, ‘red alert’ has been sounded in Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Bajali, Tamulpur, Nalbari, West Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, Cachar, Hailakandi and Sribhumi districts.
‘Orange alert’ has been issued for the districts of Darrang, Udalguri, Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat and Sonitpur.
‘Red alert’ implies ‘warning/take action’, while ‘orange alert’ is to be on ‘alert/be prepared to take action’.
The districts on red alert have been warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, and likely squally wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph.
The districts on ‘orange alert’ are likely to be hit by thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty wind reaching wind speed of 30-40 kmph, with heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places.
The districts of Chirang, Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Bajali, Tamulpur, Darrang and Udalguri have ‘red alert’ issued for Saturday too by the RMC.
Guwahati has been lashed with rainfall since Thursday night, causing waterlogging in almost all localities of the city.
Areas such as Panjabari, Rukminigaon, Sijubari, Satgaon, Chandmari, Anil Nagar, Tarun Nagar, Six Mile and Maligaon, were under water, with the level reaching up to waist level in many places.
Sarma said special casual leave will be given to government employees of Kamrup and Kamrup Metropolitan districts on Saturday, who have to commute some distance to reach their offices.
“Private schools are generally closed on Saturdays. In case of government educational institutions, these will remain closed tomorrow in these two districts,” he said.
The chief minister said landslides were reported in three localities of the city, but no person was injured in any of the incident.
People were seen using inflatable rafts to commute in parts of the city as students, officer-goers and others waded through the waters to reach their destinations.
Several educational institutions closed early, though students remained stranded on roads for hours due to the waterlogging.
Heads of government offices were reportedly also instructed to allow employees to leave after 3 pm, if they wish, to avoid traffic snarls in view of the inclement weather and waterlogging. PTI SSG SSG ACD
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