Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), of being built by encroaching on reserve forest land and claimed that a Supreme Court committee’s report confirmed this. He warned that “USTM may not exist two years from now” and called it a “hub for the commercialization of education,” expressing a wish for its demolition. Sarma linked USTM’s construction to recurring flash floods in Guwahati, blaming illegal hill-cutting and calling it “flood jihad.” The matter is under the Supreme Court’s purview, with a joint environmental survey recommended by the Central Empowerment Committee. Sarma also announced plans for Assam to approach the National Green Tribunal against USTM. Meanwhile, Meghalaya defends the university’s legitimacy, and USTM’s chancellor Mahbubul Hoque faces separate legal scrutiny over exam malpractice allegations, amid a highly polarized dispute between the states.