Assam flood toll rises to five

Guwahati, Aug 15 The death toll in Assam floods rose to five today as the situation remained grim in eight affected districts.

Hundreds of villages were under water due to breach in embankments of Brahmaputra and its tributaries in the worst affected districts of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji in Upper Assam.

Rail and road communication were snapped at several places.

A man and his minor son drowned in Dhemaji district wjile two others lost their lives in the turbulent Teok river in Sibsagar district yesterday. Another boy drowned in Majuli in Jorhat district.

Meanwhile, an overloaded country boat capsized at Borbil ghat in the Brahmaputra river at Majuli at 10 AM today but all the 80 people on board, including 30 school students, managed to swim to safety.

The six other districts affected by floods are Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Sonitpur and Nalbari, the reports added.

Tight security vigil in Assam ahead of I-Day

A security  personnel keeping vigil on the Brahmaputra river on Wednesday in Guwahati ahead of Independence Day celebrations. (NNN Photo)

 

Guwahati, August 13 : Ahead of the Independence DAY celebrations, the Tarun Gogoi government has beefed up  security across Assam even as five militant organisations operating in the Northeast gave a call to boycott the celebrations and asked people to observe a general strike on August 15. According to official sources, security has been tightened at all airports, railway stations, marketplaces etc to thwart any terror attacks in the run upto the celebrations. The Assam Police fanned out its commandos in Guwahati to keep an eye on suspected elements and foil any subversive acts.
“We have beefed up security to ensure violence-free celebrations on August 15. The challenge though begins for us from today,” ASP Guwahati, D Deuri, informed NNN.
“Taking a lesson from past experiences, we are currently into frisking each and every vehicle that enters the city. However, frisking all vehicles may not be always viable,” he said. In the light of this, the police asked people to be on alert.
It is worth mentioning that on October 30 last year, over 50 people were killed while scores others injured in three deadly car bomb blasts in the city. Bodo militant outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was blamed for the blasts. Even now, police are wary that ULFA and NDFB could strike jointly in Guwahati.
According to reports received security has been tightened in Kokrajhar and the four Bodo-dominated districts in Lower Assam given that they appear to be vulnerable to terror attacks. Also tight security measures have been taken in central and upper Assam cities and towns with the Army looking after security of vital installations, in particular, the oil fields. In Central Assam’s Sonitpur district, security forces recovered two IEDs, including one weighing eight kgs, on Wednesday.
The call for boycott of the celebrations was given jointly by ULFA, NDFB, Kamatapur Liberation Organization, Manipur People’s Liberation Front and Tripura People’s Democratic Front. Two days ago, in a joint statement, the five militant organisations called an 18-hour general strike in the Northeast region starting from August 14 midnight and appealed to “our peoples to display their solidarity against the colonial occupation of the region by India, the common enemy, by making the boycott and general strike a complete success”.

Gas project on fast track

Guwahati, Feb 24 : Dispur is optimistic that the gas cracker project being executed by the Gas Authority of India Limited-led joint venture company, Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), will be completed on time.

“The project will be completed on schedule and the government will provide all support for its implementation,” industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi said today.

The project is scheduled for completion within 60 months from the date its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 9, 2007, at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district.

The construction of the project’s buildings is on in full swing and efforts are on to complete these before the commencement of the monsoon.

The joint venture company is promoted by GAIL with 70 per cent equity participation and the remaining 30 per cent equity is being shared equally by Oil India Limited, Numaligarh Refinery Limited and the Assam government.

Bordoloi said work of more than Rs 310 crore was being executed at the site and financial commitment of more than Rs 1,450 crore had been made. “Additional contracts of around Rs 290 crore are planned for next month.”

BCPL has acquired 3,000 bighas of land for the plant at Lepetkata and 45 bighas for the compressor station at Duliajan. The consultant for manpower recruitment has been appointed and the process of appointing engineering graduates in various disciplines has started.

Tenders for construction of BCPL and CISF townships have been floated and are slated to be awarded by April. The construction work is being planned for completion by September.

All the statutory clearances, including environmental clearance, have been obtained and an outdoor consignment transport study has been completed. This will enable preparation of road and water routes for bringing big and heavy consignments to the plant location.

As the plant area at Lepetkata is on a low level, a total of 65 lakh cubic metres of earth/silt is required to raise the level ranging from 0.5 to 3 metres. “More than 180 dumpers are engaged in transportation of silt/earth to the plant area,” the minister said.

The feedstock required for the plant has been ensured by signing agreements with Oil India Limited, ONGC and NRL.

Bordoloi said the implementation of the project would facilitate socio-economic development of the region and generate 780 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs.

Plantation for the development of a green belt around the plant area has been planned for completion this monsoon.