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.
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. 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. 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.
He had filed PIL No, according to Saikia.
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.
