IMD Issues Red Alert for Assam Amid Forecast of Extreme Rainfall

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Assam, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall over the following two to three days. 

The alert comes in the wake of a well-marked low-pressure area emerging over the Northwest Bay of Bengal near the Odisha coast, which is predictable to strengthen into a depression within the next 24 hours.

Guwahati, along with several southern and western districts of the state, is foreseeable to be hit hardest by the imminent weather system. The IMD has cited a cyclonic flow extending up to 7.6 kilometres above mean sea level as the activate for extensive heavy rains, escorted by thunderstorms, lightning, and strong winds.

Districts likely to be affected include Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup, Cachar, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, and Chirang, among others.

The capital city of Guwahati has already witnessed severe trouble due to nonstop rainfall over the past two days, leading to wide waterlogging and flash floods. Several areas remain flooded, with traffic commotions and water entering homes and businesses.

Experts have credited the failing flood situation in Guwahati to a mixture of blocked drainage systems, lush hill-cutting, and wide encroachment on wetlands, which have considerably reduced the city's natural water preoccupation capacity.

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In reply, the Assam State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has been deployed across vulnerable areas. Rescue processes using rubber boats are happening in areas such as Rukminigaon, and relief materials are being distributed. Temporary shelters have been set up, though no large-scale removals have been announced as yet.

In the interim, residents have taken to social media to share upsetting visuals of flooded streets and teeming drains, calling for urgent action to recover urban infrastructure and flood readiness.

Authorities have advised citizens to stay indoors, avoid sodden and landslide-prone zones, and follow strictly to updates and advisories issued by the IMD and SDRF.