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Another Life Snatched by Guwahati’s Killer Drains

By AT News |

Guwahati today is not just a city of chaos and waterlogging—it has turned into a death trap. Open drains and reckless construction lie in wait, ready to claim lives, while the authorities responsible look the other way.

This week alone, tragedy struck twice. Four-year-old Sumit Kumar slipped into an uncovered drain near Nilachal Nagar and never returned home. Hours later, Phuljit Sharma, an elderly citizen, fell into another open drain in Kahilipara, narrowly escaping death but left seriously injured.

But Sumit and Phuljit are not exceptions. They are part of a long, shameful list. In 2023, Priya Kumari, a college student, lost her life when her scooter skidded near Ganeshguri and she was dragged into an open drain. In 2024, eight-year-old Avinash Sarkar was swallowed by floodwaters and washed away into a drain—his body surfaced only days later. Each incident sparks outrage, and each time, the story repeats: silence, denial, and inaction.

What do GMDA and GMC have to say? These are the very agencies entrusted with drainage, urban planning, and road safety. Instead, they have mastered only one skill: negligence. Year after year, residents pay with their lives for the inefficiency of a system that thrives on excuses.

Meanwhile, the state government continues to thump its chest about “transforming Assam.” But what transformation are we talking about when the capital city cannot even secure its footpaths and drains? When parents cannot let children play outside without fearing they may vanish into a death hole?

These deaths are not accidents—they are killings by negligence. Each open drain is a trap left uncovered. Each fatality is the result of apathy. And each passing day without accountability makes the next tragedy inevitable.

The people of Guwahati deserve better. Until those in power are forced to answer for their failures, the city’s drains will remain what they have long become: open graves waiting for their next victim.

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Assam Times Staff. editor@assamtimes.org
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