In a significant step toward reclaiming Guwahati’s water bodies and addressing chronic urban flooding, the Assam government on Monday demolished the campus of the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), a central government institute, located at Silsako Beel.
The move is part of a larger drive by the state administration to restore the 800-bigha reservoir zone of Silsako, a key natural water body in the city, from both private and government encroachments.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, addressing reporters, acknowledged the difficulty of the decision. “While IHM has served the city in the education sector, the pressing need to safeguard Guwahati from devastating floods demands urgent action. We are acting for the greater good of the city’s future,” he said.
The IHM campus, which covered approximately 15 bighas of land, included classroom buildings, hostel accommodations, and ancillary infrastructure. All structures were razed as part of the government’s 15-day eviction and demolition plan for the area.
The institute is currently being shifted to a temporary facility on GS Road. To ensure continuity of operations, the state has allocated 30 bighas in Sonapur for the institute’s new permanent campus. “We will construct their infrastructure and hand it over to the institute,” Baruah confirmed.
Calling the IHM demolition the “largest single institutional removal” within the reservoir zone, the minister emphasized the broader objective of flood mitigation in the capital city. Repeated encroachments on wetlands and beels like Silsako have long been blamed for the city’s worsening waterlogging during monsoons.
The Silsako Beel restoration project is a key component of the state’s urban resilience strategy and involves the removal of several unauthorized structures that obstruct natural water flow. The administration has set a 15-day timeline to complete demolitions and relocation work in the area.
