Page 44 - Assam

Manipur doesn't need visit by leaders to exacerbate fault lines: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the situation in Manipur demands bridging differences through compassion and not a visit by a political leader to exacerbate the fault lines, in an apparent reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's daylong trip to the ethnic strife-torn state. Sarma, who is also the convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the NDA's northeast chapter, said Gandhi's visit to Manipur is nothing but media hype and at this point, no one should try to take political mileage from the northeastern state's "tragic" situation. "Situation in Manipur demands bridging differences through compassion. It's not in the nation's interest for a political leader to use his so-called visit to exacerbate fault lines. Both the communities of the state have clearly rejected such attempts," Sarma said in a tweet. Talking to reporters, Sarma said the state and central governments are handling the Manipur situation and such daylong visits, such as ...

Assam CM apprises PM Modi about flood situation in state over call

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence in New Delhi and apprised him about the prevailing flood situation in the state. Sarma briefed Modi on various measures taken by the state government to provide relief and rehabilitation to those affected, according to an official release. The PM appreciated the steps taken by the state government to deal with the flood situation and assured Sarma that all possible help and assistance will be extended by the Centre, it said Sarma also briefed him about the various development initiatives taken by the state government. "I had the privilege of seeking blessings of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji in Delhi. Assam's well-being remains the top priority for Hon'ble PM. I apprised him on our developmental journey and received his kind guidance on the way forward," Sarma later tweeted.

Assam flood situation improves, 38,000 still affected in 4 districts

The flood situation in Assam improved on Thursday, although four more persons lost their lives and nearly 38,000 people were still under the impact of the deluge in four districts, an official bulletin said. According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), four persons died due to flooding in North Guwahati, taking the death toll to 11 so far across the state. The report said over 37,700 people remain affected due to the floods in Barpeta, Kamrup, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur districts. Barpeta is the worst hit with over 28,000 affected people, followed by Lakhimpur (9,000) and Sonitpur (400), it added. Till Wednesday, nearly 83,000 people were affected across six districts. The government has been operating one relief camp in Kamrup district, where four persons have taken shelter, and three relief distribution centres in two districts. Currently, 253 villages remain submerged in floodwaters and 1,526.08 hectares of crop areas have been dama

Assam CM issues advisory to DCs listing guidelines followed during visit

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has issued an advisory to all Deputy Commissioners listing simple programme details to be followed during his official visits to the districts. The advisory states that felicitation of the chief minister with gamocha/flower bouquet must be strictly avoided and no gift item should be offered to him. The lamp may be lit by the organiser before the start of the function which may continue to be lit throughout the meeting. There was no need for an extended vote of thanks other than that by the anchor. In the case of the chief minister's overnight stay, the next morning's programme should start with the planting of a commercial tree. Tea must be served in earthen cups (kulhads) and water should be kept in glass bottles/jugs instead of single-use plastic bottles, the advisory stated. The lunch and dinner menu should always be a simple vegetarian meal with an Assamese/local tribal menu. The advisory has been issued as the chief minister desires

Remind Manipur CM of his 'Raj Dharma', Assam Cong leader urges Modi

Alleging that political campaigns have taken precedence over Constitutional duties in ethnic strife-torn Manipur, senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remind N Biren Singh, the chief minister of that state, of his 'Raj Dharma'. Elected officials need to carry out their responsibilities, Saikia who is the Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly said in a letter to Modi. "I urge you to remind the Chief Minister of Manipur, Biren Singh, to observe the principles of Raj Dharma, just as you were reminded by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji over two decades ago," the Congress leader said in the letter. In 2002, Vajpayee had famously asked Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat then, to maintain his 'Raj Dharma' in order to control the riots in the western state. Saikia stated that it was disheartening to witness "political campaigns taking precedence over constitutional duties". "It is crucial for elected

One more dead, 83,000 people affected still under impact of Assam flood

The flood situation in Assam improved on Wednesday, although one more person lost his life and nearly 83,000 people were still under the impact of the deluge in six districts, an official bulletin said. According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person died due to flooding in Rongjuli of Goalpara district. The death toll in this year's floods across Assam stands at seven. It said over 82,900 people are hit due to the floods in Barpeta, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts. Barpeta is the worst-hit with over 60,700 people impacted, followed by Lakhimpur (over 18,600 people) and Sonitpur (around 1,400 people), it said. Till Tuesday, nearly 1.2 lakh people were affected by floods across seven districts of the state. The ASDMA report a day before had stated that water levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were receding in several places and not flowing above the danger mark anywhere. The administration has been

Assam floods affect preparations for Eid al-Adha celebration in Barpeta

The villagers of as many as 15 villages Bhella area in the lower Assam district said that due to floods, they would not be able to celebrate Eid al-Adha this year

Rs 250 cr agriculture fund launched in Assam to boost agribusiness

A Rs 250 crore fund has been created in Assam by multiple stakeholders, including World Bank, to promote small and medium units in the agriculture sector, officials said on Tuesday. Venture capital fund Caspian Impact Investment Adviser said it has joined hands with the Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS) Society to roll out the agribusiness investment firm. The Hyderabad-based company said that according to the agreement, ARIAS will be the nodal agency for establishing and implementing a contributory and determinate investment trust -- the Assam Agribusiness Investment Fund (AAIF). "With a corpus of Rs 250 crore, AAIF is a unique sector-specific fund, focusing on boosting agricultural productivity and employment generation in the state. It will mainly invest in small and medium enterprises in the agribusiness and allied sectors to achieve accelerated growth," it said in a statement. ARIAS is designated as the anchor investor for the AAIF, which will be ...

Bandh against delimitation proposal affects normal life in Assam, 300 held

Over 300 protestors were detained in three districts of Assam's Barak Valley on Tuesday during a 12-hour bandh called by political parties to protest against the delimitation exercise of constituencies in the state, the draft proposal for which was published last week. The bandh, initially called by the Barak Democratic Front (BDF) and later supported by the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and the AIUDF, began at 5 am with shops and business establishments closed in Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts of the Valley. Schools and government offices remained open but attendance was thin. The number of vehicles was lower than usual in the three districts and the protestors were seen urging people who had come out on the streets to return home. The police detained over 300 protestors, including Congress MLA from Karimganj (North) Kamalakhya De Purukayastha, and the party's Cachar district president Abhijit Paul. Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta said protestors from a

Flood situation in Assam improves gradually; 272,000 people still affected

The administration has set up 61 relief camps and 104 relief distribution centres, and 43064 people are still taking shelter in the relief camps

NDRF rescues over 120 people, nearly 400,000 affected from Assam floods

More than 120 people were rescued and shifted to safer places in Assam by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which has deployed ten teams to undertake flood relief operations in the state, an official said on Sunday. Over four lakh people have been hit by the deluge across nine districts of the state, even though water levels started to recede on Sunday. "A total of ten teams have been deployed in Assam that are conducting rescue and evacuation from low-lying areas. So far, 123 persons and several cattle have been shifted to safer places," an NDRF spokesperson said in an update issued at 6:30 pm. Each NDRF team has about 35-40 rescuers. The spokesperson said these teams are also assisting the local authorities in distribution of relief material. The situation is currently under control and the teams are carrying out reconnaissance of the low-lying areas, he said. So far, three persons have lost their lives in this year's first wave of flood in different parts of the stat

Constantly monitoring situation: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Assam floods

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that Home Minister Amit Shah called him to inquire about the flood situation in the state and assured him of full support

Flood situation in Assam not as bad as compared to last year, say reports

The sources said that if everything goes well by the next two years Assam would witness minimal floods

Flood situation in Assam continues to remain grim, over 400,000 affected

The flood condition in Assam remained grim on Sunday, with over four lakh people hit by the deluge across nine districts, even though water levels started to recede, an official said. So far, three persons have lost their lives in this year's first wave of flood in different parts of the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) official said. According to an ASDMA report, over 4,07,700 people are impacted by the deluge in Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Nalbari and Udalguri districts. The water levels have begun to recede in some areas, the official said. The administration has been operating 101 relief camps in these districts, where 81,352 persons have taken shelter, and running 119 relief distribution centres in five districts. At present, 1,118 villages are under water and 8,469.56 hectare of crop area has been damaged across Assam, ASDMA said. Massive erosion was witnessed in Baksa, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhubri, Kamrup, Kokrajha

Assam cabinet nod to Rs 823 crore investment in Numaligarh Refinery

The Assam cabinet on Saturday approved an investment of Rs 823 crore in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd for its expansion project. As part of the Rs 28,026 crore project, Numaligarh Refinery will expand its capacity from 3 million metric tonnes (mmt) to 9 mmt, and lay a crude pipeline of 1,398 km from Odisha's Paradip to Numaligarh and a product pipeline of 605 km from Numaligarh to West Bengal's Siliguri. The state government will get additional equity in the company against this investment, and release Rs 205.73 crore in the first tranche, state minister Jayanta Malla Baruah told reporters. The cabinet also decided to amend the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Assam Rules 2022 to incorporate 'Regulation for Idol Immersion', he said. The key feature of it will be the identification of permanent immersion ghats along river banks, he added.

Assam flood situation grim, death toll at 3, over 4 lakh people hit

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturday with the death toll rising to three and over 4 lakh people across 15 districts reeling under the deluge, an official bulletin said. Most of the rivers in the state continued to be in spate, it said. The flood waters claimed the life of a man in Nalbari district, taking the total toll to three so far, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its report. The water level of the Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger mark at Tezpur and Nematighat in Jorhat. Altogether, 4,07,771 people, including 1,67,538 women and 53,119 children, are reeling under the impact of the deluge, the report said. The affected districts are Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari and Tamulpur. Bajali is the worst-affected district with 2,21,58 people suffering from the deluge, followed by Nalbari with 40,068 and Lakhimpur with 22,060. Altogethe

Protests continue in Assam against delimitation proposals amid dissent

Protests against the delimitation proposals continued in Assam on Saturday, with allies of the ruling BJP-led coalition as well as opposition parties venting their discontent. Terming the draft delimitation proposal an attempt by the BJP to polarise voters on religious lines disregarding the sentiment of the people, opposition parties decided to present the 'grievances' of the citizens before the Election Commission. Protests by Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leaders took place in the Amguri Assembly constituency in Sivasagar district on Saturday. The constituency is represented by Pradip Hazarika of the AGP, an ally of the BJP. "Our Amguri constituency is being merged with another constituency and we are losing our identity. We will not accept it and continue our agitation," a local AGP leader said. Opposition AIUDF held protests in Barak Valley districts on Friday. The protestors demanded that status quo of boundaries and the name of constituencies be maintained. It has been decided

Flood situation in Assam remains grave, over 488,000 people affected

The flood situation in Assam remained grave on Saturday with over 4.88 lakh people affected so far, an official report said. Major rivers remained in spate across the state with the meteorological department warning of more rainfall and thunderstorm in different parts. A Central Water Commission report on Friday evening said the Brahmaputra was flowing over the danger level in Nematighat (Jorhat). The water level of the Puthimari and Pagladiya rivers have breached the red mark in Kamrup and Nalbari districts respectively, it added. The Regional Meteorological Centre here has issued a 'Yellow' alert for Saturday, asking people to be on watch and remain updated for heavy rainfall and thunderstorm in some parts of the state. As per an official report, more than 4.88 lakh people in 16 districts are currently reeling under floods. Two persons have been killed in floods this year so far. Worst affected has been the Bajali sub-division where 2.67 lakh people have been hit by the ...

Assam flood situation grim, death toll at 2, over 488,000 affected

The flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim on Friday with the death toll rising to two and over 4.88 lakh people reeling under the deluge across 16 districts, according to an official bulletin. Several major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing above the danger level at different places as the state has been witnessing heavy rain for the last few days. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin said one person was killed in flood water in Ghograpar in Nalbari district in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to two so far. Altogether, 4,88,525 in 16 districts and three sub-divisions (independent) are currently reeling under the deluge, it said. The number of people affected by the flood was 4.95 lakh in 16 districts and four sub-divisions (independent) on Thursday. Bajali sub-division remained the worst hit with 2,67,253 people affected, followed by Nalbari with 80,061 and Barpeta with 73,233. Altogether 35,142 people are now staying in 140

Assam floods take a toll, impact nearly 496K people in 22 districts

The flood waters have submerged 14091.90 hectares of cropland in the flood-hit districts