Guwahati: Questions have been raised over delays in issuing flood warnings in flood-affected districts of Upper Assam after a written reply by the Central Government to a question raised by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president (APCC) Gaurav Gogoi.
In response to Unstarred Question No. 2909 raised by Gogoi, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, informed the Lok Sabha that the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) provides near real-time flood monitoring services for the Brahmaputra basin. He said satellite-based flood inundation maps and data are shared with the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) within 5 to 6 hours of receiving satellite data.
According to the Union Minister’s reply, ISRO monitors flood conditions using high-resolution satellites, including EOS-04 (RISAT-1A), Resourcesat 2/2A, Cartosat-2E and Cartosat-3 satellites. The technology helped ISRO provide 45 flood inundation maps during the 2025 monsoon season and 33 maps during the 2026 monsoon season till July 28 to ASDMA.
The minister also said the datasets are available on the National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) and Bhuvan portals for district and sub-district level monitoring. The system also supports the preparation of district-level flood reports using sensor-specific processing algorithms.
Reacting to the response on X, Gogoi questioned why residents of three Upper Assam districts were not alerted in time despite ASDMA receiving flood data from ISRO within hours.
Gogoi said that when Sivasagar district faced flash floods on July 19, the District Commissioner had stated that the administration had only around three hours to respond and no prior official warning was issued. He questioned why ASDMA did not share the available satellite data and flood maps with district authorities and residents.
Gogoi alleged that the State Government and ASDMA failed to use ISRO’s flood monitoring system effectively. He claimed that delays at the state level prevented timely warnings from reaching people on the ground.
He said the absence of early alerts left thousands of residents without enough time to move livestock, household goods and belongings to safer locations.
Gogoi demanded an explanation from the government on why the available flood monitoring data did not translate into timely warnings and preparedness measures.