Residents buy rubber boats as rowing to school & work become new normal in Guwahati neighbourhood

Time of India

15-06-2025

Guwahati: Each monsoon, residents of Rukminigaon brace themselves for a familiar scenario — their entire neighbourhood transforming into a waterlogged maze. But this year has taken a peculiar, almost inventive turn: rubber boats have replaced vehicles, with paddles now charting the course to daily survival.
With no sustainable flood management in place and transportation grinding to a halt, several residents have begun investing in inflatable rubber boats to navigate the inundated lanes.
Apurba Das, who runs a girls' paying guest accommodation in the area, finds himself at the centre of this crisis every monsoon. With floodwater breaching his compound and roads turning into murky canals, he now stocks up not just on groceries and essentials, but also on a rubber boat he purchased online in May.
"As water entered the compound, most of the girls living here were unable to go to office or carry out their daily routines. They started shifting to other places, which hurt my business. That's when I decided to purchase the boat online," Das said.
Having never owned a boat before, Das now coordinates boat rides for his tenants during the monsoon. He used it for the first time on Saturday when heavy rain lashed the city. "I bought it for their use and now hire people who can steer it, paying them Rs 200," he said.
According to Das, this arrangement is not only more reliable but also far more affordable than rickshaws, which charge exorbitant fares during the rains.
Another resident, Randeep Kalita, who lives just 50 metres from GS Road, got his boat from his brother in Golaghat district. He describes the decision as born out of sheer desperation.
"I bought the boat for my daughter Urja, who had already missed four exams because of the floods.
It's always difficult for our family during monsoon, but this time, even if I have to wade through that dirty water myself, I will — just to make sure she doesn't miss another class," Kalita said.
The situation in Rukminigaon is particularly striking given that residents say the area had never experienced flooding except in 2002, when a sluice gate in the upper reaches of the Bahini river was opened.
A survey by the Kamrup (Metro) district administration and Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) identified Rukminigaon areas including Balibat, Manasha Mandir Path, Bishnu Path, Chinaki Path, and Rupalim Path as among the most flood-prone, experiencing inundation within 15-20 minutes of rainfall.
The report attributes frequent flooding to a combination of factors: storm water inflows from Dispur Secretariat, Supermarket, Beltola Wireless, and Basisthapur via Namghar Path, compounded by overflow at choke-points along the Bahini river — notably at PIBCO point and Chinaki Path.
Structural constraints have also altered the area's natural drainage network over time. The crossflow of storm water from Rukminigaon to Bormotoria via the Bahini river has been disrupted at several points, including Downtown supermarket, the Minister's Colony gate, and the old Janata Bhawan. These areas once featured wooden bridges but were converted to hume pipe channels during the 1980s and early 1990s.