Congress Criticizes Assam Government Over Flood Relief Delays

The Congress party has expressed serious concerns over the Assam government's delayed response to the ongoing flood crisis in Upper Assam. APCC chief Gaurav Gogoi has called for transparency regarding the flood death toll and urged immediate action to deliver essential supplies to affected families. With reports of 41 fatalities and thousands displaced, Gogoi's recent visits to the worst-hit districts revealed widespread devastation and inadequate local administration response. He has also appealed to the central government for technical assistance to help rebuild homes and restore agricultural activities. The situation is further complicated by conflicting reports regarding the causes of the flooding, including the denial of cloudbursts by the India Meteorological Department.

By Narendra Chaudhary Jul 23, 2026, 14:09 IST

Emergency Relief Efforts Under Scrutiny

APCC chief Gaurav Gogoi visited the flood-affected families of Borbam Tea Estate in Nazira on Wednesday

Guwahati, July 23: The Congress party has raised concerns regarding a "significant delay" in providing emergency assistance to communities impacted by floods in Upper Assam. They have accused the state administration of failing to distribute essential supplies promptly amidst the escalating humanitarian crisis.

Gaurav Gogoi, the chief of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), has called for increased transparency from the state government, demanding a truthful account of the fatalities related to the floods and ensuring that relief reaches every affected household without further postponement.

"Assam is currently experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. To date, 41 individuals have lost their lives, with many still unaccounted for. Thousands are homeless, and countless others are living in undignified conditions," Gogoi expressed in a social media update.

Assam is facing an epic humanitarian crisis. As of today, 41 people have lost their lives, many are missing. Thousands of people are without any homes and lakhs of people are living without dignity.

Over the past few days, I visited flood-affected districts of Jorhat, Sivasagar…
— Gaurav Gogoi (@GauravGogoiAsm) July 23, 2026

The Member of Parliament from Jorhat mentioned that he had recently toured some of the most severely affected areas, including Jorhat, Sivasagar, and Charaideo, where he observed extensive destruction and what he termed as an insufficient response from local authorities.

"There has been a notable delay in the provision of emergency supplies such as food rations, safe drinking water, disinfectants, clothing, and bleaching powder," he claimed, emphasizing that families in distress are still struggling to secure basic needs.

Gogoi also urged the central government to promptly dispatch a team of technical experts equipped with the necessary tools to aid flood-affected residents in rebuilding their homes and restoring agricultural activities disrupted by the floods.

These comments follow Gogoi's visit to flood-impacted regions in Teok and parts of Jorhat town on July 21, where he questioned the Assam government's coordination with neighboring northeastern states, particularly Nagaland.

He alleged that the lack of timely communication regarding an upstream cloudburst had worsened the flooding situation in Upper Assam.

In response, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma indirectly addressed these claims, stating that the Assam government was informed within minutes of reports of a cloudburst in Nagaland's Mon district.

Sarma refuted allegations of a failure in inter-state coordination, asserting that the alert would have had minimal impact as floodwaters had already begun to flow downstream by that time.

Adding to the discussion, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has since refuted claims of cloudbursts occurring in Assam and Nagaland in recent days, effectively dismissing assertions that such extreme weather events were responsible for the catastrophic floods in Upper Assam.