Tragic Landslide in Guwahati Claims Four Lives Amid Heavy Rains

Four people lost their lives in Guwahati early Tuesday as relentless rain triggered a devastating landslide and a separate rockfall, shaking the city and highlighting the persistent risks of its hilly terrain.

A Family Lost, A Son Survives

In Mathgharia, the earth gave way around 7:40 a.m., burying a home and claiming three lives: Nagen Rajbongshi, 44, his wife Sanu, 38, and their 12-year-old daughter Meena. Their 19-year-old son, Biplab, was pulled from the rubble alive—a small mercy in an otherwise crushing tragedy.

Second Incident Claims Another Life

Just over an hour earlier, at roughly 6:30 a.m., a massive rock tumbled onto a house in Kalitakuchi village on the city’s outskirts. Sixty-five-year-old P. Sumitra was killed instantly. Three others—P. Lakshmi, P. Ramanna, and Damayanti Das—were injured in the same incident.

“Rescue personnel and local authorities have been clearing the debris and assisting those affected,”

said Guwahati Municipal Corporation commissioner Chinmoy Prakash Phookan, who visited both sites. His words carried the weight of a city all too familiar with such disasters.

Why Guwahati’s Hills Turn Deadly

Guwahati’s landscape is dominated by hills—216.79 square kilometers of them under the city’s administration. Many have been weakened over years by earth-cutting, stone extraction, and construction. When heavy rains come, the ground often slips.

Data recently presented in the Assam State Assembly paints a grim picture: 93 landslide deaths between 2016 and 2025 statewide. Kamrup Metropolitan district, which includes Guwahati, regularly records the highest number of urban landslide fatalities. From 2016 to mid-2022 alone, it accounted for 22 of the state’s 79 landslide deaths.