US Rapper Post Malone to Perform as Assam Approves Concert Tourism Policy

Mr Sarma told reporters, “Our neighbouring state, Meghalaya, has been holding concerts, and there was a (British rock band) Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad, which reportedly generated Rs 600 crore in revenue for the state. We had mentioned a policy on concert tourism in this year’s budget. The Cabinet approved this today.”

Mr Sarma said that Guwahati, Jorhat, and Dibrugarh will host concerts. He added that Malone will perform at the first concert under the new policy at Guwahati on December 8. “Assam had been left out of the concert tourism economy...with the new policy, we believe we can have a healthy competition with Meghalaya,” said Mr Sarma.

It is significant that singers Ed Sheeran, Bryan Adams, Nick Carter and American rock band Mr Big have attracted thousands of tourists from Assam and other state to a series of concerts in Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong.

The Assam Cabinet also approved a sixth addition to the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, which will take its total area to 47,291 hectares. “The move will add 6,000 hectares to the park,” Mr Sarma said.

Mr Sarma also announced that the state government has approached the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), to visit and assess the worsening hill degradation around Guwahati—an issue increasingly linked to its urban flooding crisis.

He said that the state had formally requested the CEC to inspect the hills surrounding Guwahati, particularly pointing to alleged environmental degradation in neighbouring Meghalaya where large-scale construction has been steadily reshaping the terrain.

“Yesterday, while coming here, I noticed two more massive buildings coming up near the USTM (University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya). If this continues, Guwahati will be perpetually inundated in a few years," said Mr Sarma while addressing the media after a cabinet meeting in Dergaon.

He, however, acknowledged that a complete solution to Guwahati’s flood problems is unlikely. “Every year, we fill up empty spaces to construct buildings. There is no concrete solution to this problem,” he admitted.

The CEC, constituted by the Supreme Court to deal with matters of forest conservation and environmental compliance, is expected to respond to the request within the next two to three months.

Meanwhile, residents of Rukminigaon, Wireless, Hatigaon and other low-lying neighbourhoods continued to battle waterlogging on Wednesday—despite no fresh rainfall that day. The situation follows a punishing spell of rain on Tuesday, when the city recorded 112.5 mm of precipitation since Monday night, crossing the 100 mm mark and throwing life out of gear.