Written by, Sept. 13 -- Anwesha Mahanta

When Guwahati floods, the water may cover the same roads, enter the same drains and disrupt the same transport network. But the flood does not produce the same disaster for everyone. For one resident, waterlogging may mean a delayed journey home. For another, it may mean a lost day's wages. For a small trader, it may mean a closed shop. For a student, a missed class. For someone seeking medical care, it can turn an ordinary journey into a difficult one. The rain may be the same. The vulnerability is not.

Guwahati's flood debates understandably focus on rainfall, drainage congestion, encroachment, wetland loss and rapid urbanisation. These explain important aspects of the physical geography of floo...