Silchar, Aug. 26 -- The Gauhati High Court has admitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that the recent floods in Assam's Sivasagar were caused or aggravated by unscientific coal mining in Nagaland and illegal sand and stone mining in the Dikhow river in Assam, and sought detailed replies from the Assam and Nagaland governments and other concerned authorities by November 3.

The PIL, filed by former leader of the opposition and former Nazira MLA Debabrata Saikia, challenges the administrative handling of the July disaster that claimed more than 80 lives and displaced lakhs of people across Sivasagar, Charaideo and surrounding areas.

Chief justice of the Gauhati High Court Ashutosh Kumar observed that the issues highlighted in...