GUWAHATI, Oct 19 – The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today demanded that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi should clarify the stand of the State Government on the issue of construction of mega dams.
AGP spokesman Atul Bora alleged that the Chief Minister failed to take a bold stand on the issue and in fact, on some occasions, Gogoi maintained double standard on the issue. He said that Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister managed to put pressure on the Centre in support of the
construction mega dams, while, the Assam Chief Minister kept quiet on the issue, which exposed his weakness.
The AGP also criticized Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for cancelling the proposed inter-ministerial meeting on the issue. Bora said that being a representative of Assam, the Prime Minister should have kept the interests of the people of the State in mind, but he miserably failed to do so.
Guwahati: The Assam Hill Section railway track, connecting Lumding in the Brahmaputra Valley to Badarpur in Barak Valley, that suffered more than 30 breaches because of massive landslips on October 7 has been restored in record time.
The Railways resumed traffic on the route, which passes through Dima Hasao district, on Sunday night with a goods train. On Monday, passenger train Barak Valley Express travelled from Lumding to Silchar via Haflong.
Northeast Frontier Railway PRO Jayanta Kumar Sarma said the rail link was restored with workmen working round the clock despite the Puja holidays. The maximum damage had occurred between Migrendisa and Mahur stations where landslips had caused a 30-metre deep crater, leaving 50 metres of the railway track hanging in the air.
Prabal Kr Das
GUWAHATI, Oct 18 – Authorities who maintain roads and those who use them need to take note, with credible data raising concerns over road accidents in Northeast India. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya are among the States which have high rates of accidents and deaths in relation to number of vehicles on the road, according to National Crime Records Bureau.
In a report, the bureau reveals that rate of accidental deaths per thousand vehicles was quite high in Assam. In 2008, the figure stood at 1.9, whereas it was 0.7 in the case of Gujarat and 0.6 in Goa.
During the same year in Assam, 4,262 road accidents took place, and 1,721 people lost their lives. The number was among the highest the State recorded in recent years.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the number of deaths per cars that year was more alarming. The rate of accidental deaths per cars stood at 5.7, the highest in the entire country.
Sikkim is another State with high road accident deaths. In 2008, the all India percentage share was 37.1, but it hovered at 72.5 in the State. Manipur and Tripura also had rates higher than the all India percentage share.
Significantly, Assam is one of the States identified as “high prone areas on the basis of percentage share of deaths due to unnatural causes (rail road and railways accidents)”. While the all India share stood at 8.3 per cent, Assam was seventh in the list with 11.7 per cent.
According to experts, a number of factors are responsible for the high rates of accident, of which careless driving over difficult terrain continues to reap a deadly toll every year.
Dr Akhilesh Kumar Maurya, of IIT Guwahati’s Civil Engineering Department told The Assam Tribune that poor quality of roads was a major challenge to drivers in many parts of the Northeast. “Improvements in road design can enhance safety as well as comfort levels,” he noted.
It has also been said that road accidents in Assam and neighboring States shoot up during the monsoon and winter period. Such accidents have continued to rise as problems like poor visibility over roads have gone unaddressed.
The NCRB report identified trucks and lorries as the biggest causes of road accidents in India. In 2008, at least 25,135 people were killed by such vehicles across the country.
Accidents involving two-wheelers was the second biggest threat to road users, as they were involved in the death of 23,552 people.
Cars, both private and government owned, were major factor in road accident deaths. In 2008, 10,222 lives were lost in accidents involving cars.
A break-up of various causes of accidental deaths in 2008 in India showed that the 34.5 per cent of those were due to road accidents and rail-road and railway accidents were responsible for 7.6 per cent.
Guwahati, Oct 15 Four elephants, including two calves, died because of suspected poisoing near Assam's Kaziranga National Park over the past one week, sending out an alarm to the Centre and prompting the state authorities to act.
Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said in a statement on Thursday that an inquiry into the incident was on and 'strict action' would be taken against the culprits.
The statement was issued after Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh took up the issue with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi caling for an immediate probe and action against the culprits.
Two elephants calves died of suspected poisoining at Difolu tea estate on October seven.
Bodies of two adult pachyderms, one of them pregnant, were also found inside and outside Panbari reserve forest respectively on October 11 and 12.
In all the cases, the tongues and eyes of the animals turned blue, indicating use of poison, the park authorities said.
''We suspect poison was used to kill the elephants. But it will be confirmed only after getting the forensic reports," a park official said.
However, a villager of Bokakhat in Golaghat district said it was improbable for the locals to poison elephants.
''We can't believe it. We offer prayers to elephants as god," he said.
According to reports, more than 700 people have been killed by wild elephants in Assam over the past one decade, while 300 elephants died durig this period.
Assam is the land of elephants with about 5500 pachyderms having habitat in the state, according to the last animal census report.
GUWAHATI, Oct 15 – As huge amount of natural gas is flared up in the oil fields of Assam every day, the gas-based industries should be given gas at subsidized rate, demanded the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU). The students’ body also demanded that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha, should take personal initiative to ensure survival of the gas-based industries in the State.
AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that a team of the students’ body recently visited Namrup to take stock of the gas-based industries and found that the sudden increase in the price of natural gas has seriously affected the industries like the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation, Namrup Thermal Power Station and the Assam Petrochemicals Limited. The AASU demanded that the Prime Minister must take initiative to provide gas at subsidized rates to these units to ensure their survival and the State Government, on its part, should also put pressure on the Centre in this regard. As a gas-producing State, the industrial units of Assam must get gas at reduced rates, he asserted.
The AASU demanded that the Namrup Fertilizer unit must be revived immediately and the Centre should play the key role in this regard. Bhattacharya said that the first unit of the plat is defunct, while the second and third units need to be revamped immediately. There is need for setting up a new unit of the plant to make it economically viable. There is no shortage of market for fertilizer but setting up of a new unit and revamp of the existing ones are required to make the plant viable under the present circumstances.
During the visit, the AASU delegation held discussions with the senior officials of the fertilizer plant on the problems faced by the workers. Bhattacharya said that there is need for improving the condition of the school run by the corporation and at present, only 39 teachers are working against 100 posts.
The process of revamping the Namrup Thermal Power Station is also very slow and the recent increase in gas price will also seriously affect the plant in the days to come. The Government of India must provide gas to the power plant at subsidized rates for improving power generation in the State, the AASU demanded.
Guwahati, Oct 13 : Four students were killed, when an oil tanker rammed them down in Assam's Sonitpur district on Tuesday, police said.
The incident took place at Hawajan under Gohpur sub division in the district, when the four school students of Na-Kumua village went for a morning walk at National Highway (NH)-52 around 4:45 am. A speeding oil tanker, travelling to Lakhimpur from Guwahati, mowed them down.
The students were identified as Mukut Sarmah (14), Haren Bora (11), Bonamali Bora (10) and Pankaj Sarmah (14).
After the tragic incident All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabai Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and local school students blocked the NH-52 demanding adequate compensation to families of victims, besides taking steps to limit speed of the vehicles at the National Highway.
Besides, Lakhimpur district police seized the oil tanker and arrested the driver named Bharat Ram at Lakhimpur.
Guwahati, Oct 12 (IANS) With assembly elections in Assam due next year, political parties have already started wooing minority Muslims and tea garden workers for their prized votes.
The state's main opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), for instance, held a crucial meeting of its minority cell chaired by party president Chandra Mohan Patowary.
The party, making a desperate attempt to win the polls after facing humiliating defeats at the hands of the Congress party in the past two assembly elections in 2001 and 2006, discussed how to attract Muslims, tea garden workers, Nepali speaking settlers, besides smaller ethnic groups.
'The minorities in Assam have faced discrimination and remained a neglected lot at the hands of successive Congress governments and it is time to reverse the trend with the AGP making a firm commitment to work towards the overall development of these communities,' senior AGP leader and party general secretary Atul Bora told IANS.
Muslims account for about 30 percent of Assam's 30 million people and hold the key to winning or losing an election in about 40 constituencies.
The tea garden workers' community, fighting to be accorded the status of a Scheduled Tribe which will give them reservation benefits in jobs and educational institutions, makes up about six million people. Most of these work in the state's 800-odd tea plantations.
The four million strong tea garden voters hold the key to winning any elections in about 32 of Assam's 126 assembly constituencies.
Muslims and tea garden workers are traditionally believed to be supporters of the Congress in the state.
'The Congress party had duped the minorities for long years and it is time they realise and give us a chance to ensure a comprehensive growth for them,' the AGP leader said.
The Congress party termed the AGP's pledge a pre-poll gimmick.
'All of a sudden from nowhere the AGP is trying to become the messiah of the minorities. People of Assam are not fools and know very well their designs,' Congress leader Abdul Khaleq said.
'For long, the tea communities were with the Congress as we are the only party to have always espoused their causes and taken care of their welfare,' Bhagirath Karan, a tea community leader and head of the party's tea garden cell, told IANS.
But the presence of the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF), led by perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal, that won 11 seats in its first outing in 2006, is surely pose a problem for the Congress to keep its minority base intact.
The AUDF claims to espouse the cause of the minority Muslims.
'The Congress always plays the vote bank politics by trying to woo the Muslim and tea garden community votes, but this time we are surely going to cut into their traditional base by getting the support of the tea garden votes,' Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kamakhya Prasad Tassa said.
Elections to the 126-member assembly are scheduled for early next year in Assam.
Prabal Kr Das
GUWAHATI, Oct 12 – The truth or the lie, depending on the perspective, is finally out. Assam has lost at least 55 tigers between 2000 and 2010. Data provided by the Assam Forest Department, under the RTI Act, indicate that tigers have died due to various reasons, including poisoning and gunshot wounds in some cases.
A senior forest official, who wished anonymity, told this correspondent that the number would actually be higher, because some deaths are not known, and therefore go unreported.
The highest toll was reported in 2006, during which 10 tigers were found dead. Four deaths took place at sites under the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, while six animals died in spots under the jurisdiction of Mangaldoi Wildlife Division.
Significantly, the loss of four tigers that year was attributed to poisoning. All the four poisoning cases, which included three cubs, were reported by the DFO, Mangaldoi Wildlife Division.
Another appalling year for the highly endangered animal was 2002 during which nine tigers died, most of them in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division. Four of those, according to the Forest Department, died due to old age, and one was killed by CRPF personnel. One was a victim in a hit-and-run case, another died due to infighting. The cause of death of one could not be ascertained.
Another major decline in tiger population was noticed in 2008 when eight deaths were reported mainly from the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division. Most of the deaths were reported between autumn and winter with four deaths taking place within 48 hours on December 23 and 24.
Tiger deaths were reported throughout 2009, a period where a number of animals died due to infighting. Of the seven that perished, four were killed in infighting, one died of old age, and one died due to a buffalo attack. The cause of death of another animal could not be ascertained.
This year, tiger deaths have also been reported from Kaziranga National Park. On February 2, a male tiger aged between three and four died, and another was found dead on February 18. The cause of death of both was stated as unknown.
The data makes it clear that the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division has witnessed the largest number of tiger deaths in the last decade. Serious threats have also been seen in areas under Mangaldoi Wildlife Division, where animals have been poisoned.
Interestingly, in a number of cases the Forest Department could not state the nature of deaths. In its response to the RTI application, the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Basistha mentioned, “…the information being furnished is incomplete. Therefore, your application has already been transferred under Sec. 6 (3) c of the RTI Act, 2005.” It is now clear that the office does not yet have crucial data in its possession at a time when the issue of tiger conservation has come into sharp focus.
Guwahati, Oct 12 : At least 15 people were injured when the bandh supporters threw petrol bomb at a bus during a 12-hour Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) shutdown called by the All Assam Adivasi Students Association (AAASA) in Assam’s Udalguri district on Monday, police said.
The incident took place at Lalbagh under Orang police station in the district, when the bandh supporters throw petrol bomb at a passenger bus that was travelling from Biswanath Chariali to Guwahati.
"At least 15 people were injured; out of which eight are critical. Six people have been rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital and two to Tezpur Kanaklata Civil Hospital," a senior police official said.
Meanwhile, Udalguri Additional Superintendent of Police Satyajit Nath said, one of the main culprits, Santosh Mahatoo, has been apprehended.
The bandh has been called in demand of scheduled tribe status for Adivasis in Assam and rehabilitation of adivasis (tribals) evicted from forest lands in Saralpara village of Kokrajhar district.
A model displays an outfit designed by the sisters.
Jorhat, Oct 11 : Ethnic vibrancy marked the fashion show of twin designer sisters Ravina and Srijana Baruah who showcased their pre-Puja collection here today.
Though the cuts and lines were simple, the dresses, in earthly colours, had flowery patterns, resembling a jungle canopy. Srijana said she always felt that patterns symbolising Northeast’s culture were missing in the dresses and designs here, especially for women during the Pujas.
Guwahati, Oct 11 :
Killer trenches are increasingly spoiling the jumbo tea party in Assam. Tea planters are digging trenches — at least five feet deep — around their estates to keep elephants at bay. At least five elephants, under 15 years, have died after falling into trenches dotting eastern Assam’s tea gardens
since August.
This “disturbing trend” has shocked many wildlife experts.
“I was appalled to learn that the elephants allegedly died after falling into deep drains constructed by the estates. The tea garden authorities must take responsibility for these deaths and cases should be registered by the forest department,” says Belinda Wright, executive director ofWildlife Protection Society of India.
Officials are trying their best to address the growing problem of human-elephant conflict in the state.
“We are dispatching letters to proprietors and executives of estates adjoining protected areas and near elephant habitats to dissuade them from digging trenches or asking them to make them shallow,” says Suresh Chand, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife).
Forest officials say this a relatively new phenomenon in areas on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra. But reports say that at least seven tea estates in Sonitpur district on the northern bank have had trenches since 2004.
“The trenches are usually so narrow that elephants have no room to maneouvre once they fall. They get asphyxiated when the sides cave in under pressure of accompanying adults trying to save them,” says Anupam Sarmah of WWF-India.
Wildlife authorities are also educating planters that such short-term measures do not help mitigate. They are being encouraged to adopt measures that will help restore elephant corridors.
Agartala/Guwahati, Oct 11 (IANS) Medium to heavy rains over the past three days have badly affected life in most parts of the northeastern region in the run-up to the Durga Puja festival, beginning next week.
According to the Regional Meteorological Centre officials in Guwahati, a depression formed over west central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal earlier this week had moved to northeast India and Bangladesh Friday.
“Under its impact, rain and thundershowers occurred at most places in northeast India during the past two days,” the officials said, adding that the depression was expected to be dissolved by Saturday evening.
Preparations for the Durga Puja celebrations have been adversely affected due to the rainfall and most puja organisers, businessmen and revellers are worried over the late monsoon rain.
“Our pre-puja business is tremendously affected due to the heavy rains as most people remained indoors due to the showers,” said Sadip Saha, a cloth trader in Agartala.
The agriculturists also foresee adverse effect on the winter crops due to the heavy rains.
“Large quantities of crops ready for harvesting were submerged in most parts of the plains and low lands in Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya due to the rains,” said an official of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
In Mizoram, incessant rains have created cracks on the surface leading to damage in many houses in Mamit township on the Mizoram-Tripura border and Ngopa village on the Mizoram-Manipur border in western Mizoram.
“Many families have been displaced and more than 60 houses and churches have been damaged due to the cracks,” Mizoram relief and revenue department officials told reporters in Aizawl.
The government was making arrangements for alternative land for construction of houses for the displaced families.
Reports from different places of the mountainous state said that the downpour has also led to massive landslides in many places.
