Paper short abstract:

In spite of the cyclical-inevitable monsoon-induced urban floods jeopardizing the urban ecology in the hill valley city of Guwahati, stakeholder preparedness is untimely. The paper will contextualize the politics of waiting as a phenomenon and process to both understand and redress urban flooding

Paper long abstract:

News reports, social media platforms and public broadcasting services annually start circulating information on the plight of the cyclical-inevitable monsoon-induced urban flooding in the city of Guwahati, which jeopardizes its urban ecology, and it addresses the inability of the citizens and the city administration in timely being able to address the situation. Being physically located within hills, having river systems, wetlands and forests, Guwahati’s topography and geography make it inevitable to be receiving the spell of Indian monsoon rains, which is neither unexpected nor historically unprecedented. Since 1972, rampant urbanization, leading to a continual degradation of its urban ecology is the root cause of the urban flooding in Guwahati - a city also lacking pragmatic urban planning and a planned drainage system. The damage seems already to have been done, and it is now a question of the extent to which the city can be prepared to anticipate the onset of monsoons. The solutions provided are the need for the timely and efficient utilization and governance of resources and also of the need for coordination of efforts by various stakeholders. However, such anticipation, efficiency and coordination, is missing or untimely. Using archives, observations, narrative analysis and semi-structured interviews, this paper will contextualize the politics of waiting as a phenomenon and a process to both understand the nature of stakeholder preparedness cum mechanisms of governance vis-a-vis urban flooding in Guwahati and understand the bearing that the experiences of waiting would have in redressal and amelioration of this urban ecological concern.