Gauhati HC takes up Saikia petition over Upper Assam floods
The Gauhati High Court has taken up a petition from former Leader of the Opposition and former Nazira MLA Debabrata Saikia, who is calling out officials over the July 2026 floods in Upper Assam.
The disaster, which claimed over 100 lives in Assam, is being linked to illegal mining in the Dikhow riverbed, activities in the Nagaland catchment areas and the release of water from upstream dams.
Court seeks affidavits by November 3
The court now wants both the Assam and Nagaland governments, along with other concerned authorities, to explain themselves with detailed affidavits by November 3, 2026.
Saikia is pushing for an immediate and permanent halt to illegal riverbed mining in the Dikhow and its tributaries, implementation of the earlier High Court directions, and the constitution of a high-powered monitoring committee headed by a retired judge.
He has also flagged that his earlier warnings, in PIL No. 78 of 2018 and PIL No. 62 of 2019, were ignored, which he says led straight to this crisis.