SONAMURA: Just a few hours of overnight rain was enough to submerge homes and streets across Sonamura town, with Wards 12 and 7 of the Sonamura Nagar Panchayat — incidentally the wards of the civic body’s own chairperson and vice-chairman — among the worst affected.
Residents alleged that long-pending drain renovation work has left the town vulnerable to waterlogging even during light rainfall. They further claimed that illegal soil-filling at several locations has blocked natural drainage channels, resulting in artificial flood-like conditions across parts of the town.
In Ward 12, residents said water entered their homes, causing severe hardship for families with young children. Ward 7 reported similarly grim conditions, with knee-deep water on roads and stagnant, foul-smelling filth accumulating in the area.
The irony of the situation — that the wards represented by the Nagar Panchayat’s top office-bearers are themselves flood-hit — has fuelled public anger, with residents questioning the state of drainage in other, less prominent wards.
Locals have demanded immediate drain renovation and a crackdown on illegal soil-filling to restore proper water drainage in the town.