Assam’s Silchar breaks 132-year-old record with 415mm rainfall

Silchar, the second-biggest city in India’s northeastern state of Assam, has recorded its highest single-day rainfall in 132 years on the first day of June, with 415.8 millimetres falling in just 24 hours.

The highest previous rainfall record of 290.3 mm was set in 1893.

The torrential downpour left most of Silchar, 116 kilometres east of Sylhet, submerged, causing widespread flooding.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the extreme weather was triggered by a combination of upper-air cyclonic circulation and a lower-level trough, creating unstable atmospheric conditions.

A particularly intense weather zone stretching from central Assam to Arunachal Pradesh has been linked to a trough extending from Uttar Pradesh.

Silchar last experienced catastrophic flooding in 2022 when a breach in the Bethukundi dam on the Barak river inundated 90 percent of the city.

Over the past three days, heavy rains across the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram have caused deadly floods and landslides, leaving at least 34 people dead.

According to NDTV, rainfall in Mizoram on May 32 was 1,102 percent above the seasonal average.

From May 28 to Jun 1, Meghalaya recorded exceptionally heavy rainfall across several districts.

Sohra (Cherrapunji), near the Bangladesh border, received 796 mm, while Mawsynram recorded 774.5 mm during this period.

In Meghalaya, flash floods and landslides have damaged infrastructure in 10 districts. In Tripura, more than 10,000 people have been affected by sudden flooding.

In Manipur, overflowing rivers and breached embankments have damaged 3,365 homes, impacting over 19,000 residents.