'Was It Man Made?' Gauhati High Court Admits Plea On Deadly Assam Floods

In a very significant development, the Gauhati High Court has admitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former Leader of the Opposition and former Nazira MLA Debabrata Saikia concerning the devastating floods in Upper Assam in July 2026, causing extensive damages to the lives and property of people.The devastating floods have claimed over 100 lives in Assam. One of the worst floods Assam had witnessed.Meanwhile, the court directed the governments of Assam and Nagaland, along with other concerned authorities, to file detailed affidavits in response to the petition by November 3, 2026.The Chief Justice observed that the concerns raised by Saikia were genuine and noted that the petitioner had remained in communication with the Chief Justice and government officials over the past eight years on issues concerning illegal mining and the Dikhow River.The petition seeks judicial scrutiny into the factors that contributed to the floods, including alleged illegal mining in the Dikhow riverbed, activities in the Nagaland catchment areas and the release of water from upstream dams.Saikia has alleged that the July floods, which claimed more than 80 lives and affected lakhs of people across Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts, were aggravated by prolonged administrative inaction despite earlier warnings and court directions.According to Saikia, he had filed PIL No. 78 of 2018 and PIL No. 62 of 2019 before the Gauhati High Court, raising concerns over alleged illegal and unscientific sand and stone mining in the Dikhow riverbed, particularly in areas along the Assam-Nagaland border.Saikia's PIL has sought several measures, including 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.