Two days of incessant rainfall has inundated the All India Radio (AIR) station in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh town, leading to the suspension of all broadcast services from the studios.
A short-circuit on June 25 due to the flooding of the studios made AIR shift the broadcast of programmes from an emergency studio transmitter at Lepetkata, 18 km west of the town.
AIR Dibrugarh is among India’s 13 most sophisticated stations with high-power transmitter and has been broadcasting programmes in 12 languages and dialects — six in Assam and six in Arunachal Pradesh. It is also among the most awarded, having received 27 national awards for innovative programmes.
“The issue here is more of water-logging than flooding with the Brahmaputra flowing past yet to rise to the danger mark. The town has had drainage issues for a decade, but this has probably been the worst because of heavy rainfall,” said Lohit Deka, the station’s programme executive.
Apart from the studios, the office and the adjoining residential complex of the AIR has also been inundated. The “watery low” followed the high of the ending a three-month radio drama festival, he said.
Dibrugarh-based television journalist Ripunjoy Das said the town could have been bailed out of its water-logging problem had a major drainage project been completed.
“After the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stir, the drainage project was hit by the COVID-19 lockdown. Similar is the case with Tinsukia town, the headquarters of the adjoining district,” he said.
Pallav Gopal Jha, Dibrugarh’s Deputy Commissioner, said the agitation and the pandemic could have been factors in the water-logging the town has been battling.
“We have been experiencing approximately 1,000 mm of rainfall for two consecutive days. That’s a huge quantity and difficult to control for any urban setup,” he told The Hindu.
Dibrugarh is one of the five districts affected by the second wave of floods in Assam since mid-May. The other districts are Dhemaji, Jorhat, Majuli and Sivasagar.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said 21 people had died due to rainfall-induced landslips while 14 others had drowned so far.
An official update of the flood scenario on the morning of June 25 said 50,055 people had been affected across 179 villages.
Dhemaji is the worst affected followed by Sivasagar and Dibrugarh.
