Assam: Guwahati fire rages for third day, engineers’ association criticizes city’s disaster preparedness

Guwahati: Expressing dismay over the failure to douse a massive blaze that has engulfed a city high-rise for days, the northeast India-based All Assam Engineers’ Association (AAEA) called it a collective breakdown of various agencies, including the authorities that certified the construction with minimal provisions for disaster response.

The forum of graduate engineers urged the State government to take strict action against all officials who overlooked important precautionary measures while permitting the building’s construction and occupation.

The multi-storey commercial complex in the Christian Basti locality caught fire on the night of December 9–10, 2025, and shockingly, the blaze continues till today (December 11), affecting all six floors, which house a large shopping mall and several offices of the State Bank of India.

Multiple fire brigade vehicles and firefighters were deployed to bring the fire under control, but so far without success.

No casualties or injuries have been reported, although property losses may run into several million rupees.

“It’s shocking that the inferno is yet to be doused, which creates panic among the city-dwellers over the incompetent fire-preparedness of the authorities. Moreover, nothing is revealed about the attentiveness mounted in the complex for such a disaster,” said AAEA president Er Kailash Sarma, working president Er Nava J Thakuria, and secretary Er Inamul Hye, adding that the time has come for the government at Dispur to recalibrate all precautionary measures for tall urban structures to handle any kind of disaster, including fires and earthquakes.