GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Nagaland government alerted Assam's Chief Secretary within about ten minutes of the cloudburst that struck Mon district of Nagaland on July 19, pushing back against claims of poor inter-state coordination.
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Speaking in flood-hit Charaideo, Sarma said the warning made little practical difference, as floodwaters had already begun rushing downstream, leaving barely ninety minutes before the deluge struck Upper Assam.
His remarks followed criticism from Congress leader and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi, who alleged Assam lacked timely information on the upstream cloudburst and called for a real-time weather-sharing mechanism between the two states. Sarma maintained this flooding was unlike Assam's routine monsoon floods, given the sudden, extreme volume of water entering its rivers from Nagaland.
The disaster has devastated Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat districts, with over 800,000 people affected, 16 confirmed deaths, and hundreds of villages submerged. Army, NDRF and SDRF teams continue rescue operations, though many areas remain inaccessible. The Assam government has said it will work with Nagaland to strengthen early warning systems and flood mitigation measures going forward.