At a time when the Assam government is facing severe criticism for flood management in Guwahati, the state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has targeted a private university located in the outskirts of the city and claimed that the university, owned by a Bengali-origin Muslim, is waging “flood jihad”.
Two days later, the Gauhati High Court, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the issue of waterlogging in the city, had rapped the Sarma-led government.
Taking note of the “trauma faced by citizens of the Guwahati city”, the High Court bench headed by Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi said that it is of the view that the “time has come to deal with the problem of waterlogging/flooding in the Guwahati city”. The HC added that the state is “required to take steps for resolving this problem permanently.”
In the days following the deluge, Assam’s Housing and Urban Affairs Minister claimed that “more than half” the water that had submerged the city was “from Meghalaya, not Guwahati.”
He said that the city had received 136 mm of rain in 1.5 hours, which could not be borne by the existing drainage system. He added the city and its administration “cannot the handle the water that comes from Meghalaya.”
On Friday, Sarma took this a notch further.
He specifically placed the blame on the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), which is located in the neighbouring state’s Ri-Bhoi district. This is the district where the hills of Meghalaya descend into Guwahati in Jorabat.
USTM, a private university established in 2008, is promoted by the Education Research and Development Foundation, which was founded by Mahbubul Hoque. Hoque is also the Chancellor of the University.
Hoque is a Muslim of Bengali-origin from Assam’s Karimganj district in the Barak Valley. The University received a NAAC “A” grade accreditation in its first cycle of accreditation in 2021. There are nearly 6,000 students studying at the university, with a majority of them from Assam.
Sarma has pointed to deforestation in the hills in the area as the reasons behind the flood, but singled out the institute, accusing it of “jihad.” He pointed to the ongoing construction work in the campus for a medical college there.
“I think that the USTM owner has started a jihad. We talk about land jihad, he has started a flood jihad against Assam. Otherwise, no one can cut hills in such a ruthless way.”
He went on to add: “No one who loves nature, especially an education institution, can cut it in this way. I have to call it a jihad… I believe it is deliberate. Otherwise, they can call an architect and make a building even while keeping the hills and trees. They can make drainage… They have not used any architect. Just using bulldozers, they have relentlessly cut the land,” he said.
Sarma went on to declare that the “only solution” was for students and staff from Assam to stop studying and working there, essentially calling for a boycott.
“From tomorrow, if the students from Guwahati stop studying and Guwahati’s teachers stop going there, then Guwahati’s floods will stop… I have given a letter to (Meghalaya CM) Conrad Sangma and I will meet him too. But I don’t know how much they can do after hearing us out because the damage has already been done. The remedy is if our students stop going there… Then, these buildings will stop and trees will start growing… The solution to some things is economic. An economic answer should be given. Then a lot of things become fine,” he said.
After making these statements, Sarma went on to say that this “is not the only problem” and that Guwahati had its own problems that might have contributed to flooding.
“Guwahati is a foothill area. There are floods for various reasons… But if this continues in Jorabat, we cannot. There is no solution to that,” he said.
A university spokesperson responded to Sarma’s allegations and said it contributes a “miniscule portion” of the water that flows into Guwahati.
“USTM campus area is a small part of the Baridua area till Jorabat in Ri-Bhoi district which has largely developed on both sides of the G. S. Road. USTM campus contributes maybe a miniscule portion of the total water that flows down the Kiling Road through the various drains to the G. S. Road [Guwahati-Shillong Road] on both sides of the road.”
The spokesperson added: “The campus infrastructure expansions have all requisite permissions from the Govt of Meghalaya… Our medical project in association with Govt of Meghalaya is being guided by the Mumbai-based M/s HOSMAC India Pvt. Ltd., & M/s Satsangi Associates, New Delhi who are the consultants. The design guidance has also been reviewed by IIT Experts,” said the spokesperson.
What could have caused the flooding
Abhijit Sharma, the chairperson of the Northeast chapter of the Institute of Town Planners India, says that while deforestation and hill cutting in the neighbouring hills in Meghalaya is a factor in more run-off into the city, the matter is “grey”.
Pointing to the city’s natural trough-like shape with hills all around, he said that it is inevitable for water to flow down to it.
“The only way you can ensure that run off is less is if hills are greener and there is less population. But because of how land development has worked in this city, there has been no town planning scheme and allotment for different purposes.”
He added that “land in the city was completely in the private market and the only place for most people to buy land has been up the hills”
“In terms of run-off from hills, is Meghalaya the only culprit? You have the Nabagraha hill, the Sarania hills… We have models next door in Agartala of flood mitigation projects, so there is no need to say things in despair,” Sharma said.
Guwahati’s clogged drainage system and under-capacity is a persistent issue when the rains arrive every year. The focus of the government has been on reviving its natural drainage systems by reclaiming the three wetlands in the city. Sarma has said that the ongoing effort is to divert run-off from the Meghalaya hills to the Silsako Beel (wetland) in the city.
Sarma’s previous rows
Sarma has earlier accused Bengali-Muslim farmers of “fertilizer jihad” and said the “uncontrolled use of fertilizers” in growing vegetables had caused illness among people.
He also announced decisions to curb the sale of land to Muslims in the state, accusing them of “land jihad” and has said that the government will introduce a law with a life imprisonment penalty for “love jihad.”
On Sarma’s recent comments, Assam Congress President Bhupen Borah said that Sarma was trying to divert attention by raising the allegation of “flood jihad.”
“Collaborating with neighbouring states if there are problems as a solution to flooding has not been raised through meetings with them or with the Centre. He (Sarma) is attacking the USTM chancellor because of his religion. He [Sarma] himself is the owner of a private school in Guwahati so now he is a competitor with institutes like USTM” Borah said. Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is the Chairperson of a new private school named Vandya International School in Guwahati.
Sarma has pointed to deforestation in the hills in the area as the reasons behind the flood, but singled out the institute, accusing it of “jihad.” He pointed to the ongoing construction work in the campus for a medical college there.
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