India, Aug. 27 -- The Gauhati High Court on Wednesday admitted a PIL filed by senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia against the state government, alleging negligence led to the devastating floods in several Upper Assam districts in July.

Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar heard the petitioner's counsel KN Chowdhury and directed all listed parties to file their replies by November 3. The floods in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts claimed 105 lives, displaced lakhs of people and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of families, according to the petition. Saikia alleged that the floods were not a natural calamity but a "man-made disaster". "I had been warning the government and the authorities since 2018. I had earlier appr...