NH-54 blockade hits traffic

Silchar, Aug. 30: Residents blocked the extension of National Highway 54 running through this town for 12 hours from 6am today to protest against the dilapidated condition of the road.
The blockade, organised by New Silchar Jana Jagaran Manch, drew out hundreds of people onto the streets. The protest was peaceful though nearly 200 volunteers, including many students of a college in the area, courted arrest, police said.

The blockade on the take-off point of the 2.5km extension of the highway disrupted passenger vehicles plying from Cachar to neighbouring Mizoram.

The movement of essential goods to Mizoram from this town has been stalled for the past four days with the All Cachar Truck Owners Association going on a lightning strike on Wednesday to protest against the “shabby state” of the Cachar stretch of NH-54.

Manch president Mrinmoy Nath alleged “indifference” on the part of the district administration in taking the initiative to restore this all-important road which runs through the business hub of this town.

He said Cachar deputy commissioner Goutam Ganguli had failed to fulfil his promise of pressing the Border Roads Organisation and the PWD division of the Union transport and national highways ministry to repair the highway.

Nath said Ganguli had promised to take the initiative when manch activists had demonstrated before his office on August 21. source: telegraph india

‘Trans-Asia rail link a key to Barak Valley development’

SILCHAR Aug 28: The south north-eastern region comprising Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and North Cachar Hills districts of Asom as well as Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura remain cut off from the main lane of the country for about four months a year due to disruption of surface communication. It is more than a decade that railway communication between the southern region and Guwahati has been disconnected for the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion work.The part project work of gauge conversion between Lumding and Silchar cannot be completed due to terrorist activities. The current situation gives an impression that it will take another decade for completion of the gauge conversion work even if militants stop their activities. The only existing road link between the south north-eastern region and main land via Meghalaya also remains disrupted for three months a year due to landslides and other factors. The terrain of this road is accident prone. Frequent forays by robbers, dacoits and extremists also pose a serious threat to this surface link. The Barak Valley has its own strategic importance with its international boundary with Bangladesh and inter-state boundary with Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura. Giving details of an identical memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, South NE Regional Cooperation (SNERC) organizer Sunil Roy said 20 countries, including India, signed an agreement on June 30, 2007 in New York wherein it was agreed that the 11,460-km Trans-Asian Rail Communication would connect India with China, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and Bulgaria. Railway Board Chairman J P Batra signed the agreement as the representative of India. This Trans-Asia Rail is also to run through Bangladesh via Myanmar via Karimganj, Badarpur, Silchar and Jirighat of Barak Valley. Prior to the partition of India and Pakistan, Barak Valley and part of the north-eastern region were connected with Kolkata via East Bengal, now Bangladesh, by road, rail and water in the shortest possible ways. Even during 1971-72, these surface links were restored temporarily. Restoration of surface communication from Silchar-Kolkata and Agartala-Kolkata is the only option for speedy development of the south north-eastern region. Against this backdrop, the SNERC has impressed upon the Prime Minister, the External Affairs Minister and the Railway Minister to take immediate action to restore regular rail, road and water links from Barak Valley-Kolkata and Agartala-Kolkata via Bangladesh. Part of Trans-Asia railway communication project from Kolkata-Myanmar via Bangladesh, Barak Valley and Manipur needs to be completed expeditiously in the overall interest and development of the north-eastern region, the memorandum said. source: sentinel assam

Beacons of modern art

A stroll around the State Art Gallery in Rabindra Bhawan, where four painters from Assam University, Silchar, held an exhibition titled Why 4 left little scope to ask “whys” but did make one lip a lot of “thank gods”.

Well, thank god that at least contemporary art in Assam is extracting some “wows” when music and theatre draw only dubious “mixed reactions” and cinema is almost missing. Inaugurated by painter-filmmaker Pulak Gogoi on August 27, the exhibition had 30 splendid artworks on display.

Artist Sivan G, who originally hails from Kerala, stood out for his refreshing perspective, with an extensive use of lines and patches, which created a sense of abstraction.The works were striking for the near-absence of human figures.

Of the very few that had human forms, the one titled Imperative Song must be mentioned.
It shows a black girl placed in three different segments, in white, red and yellow attires.
The composition is simply marvellous.

Meghali Goswami, probably the only one from Assam to have earned a PhD in modern art, showed 12 of her paintings — mostly human figures in various moods.
The one titled Perception, showing a human face with different technological elements was arresting. The use of circles and straight lines besides the haunting colour scheme made the work spellbinding.

Nirmal Kanti Roy’s works are a celebration of “openness” amid the chaos of modern life. The common element in all his works is a tree leaf and the dominant hues are green and red.
Another significant aspect of his work is movement, which he creates by means of fantastic curves.

The work titled Lenient Imitation, too, bears the stamp of Roy’s distinct imaginative design and colour sense. Baharul Islam Laskar, like Goswami, concentrates on human form and kicks up a restlessness and disturbance through his lines. source: telegraph india

NAAC team lauds Assam University

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Correspondent SILCHAR, Aug 27 – A peer team of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) applauded Assam University for its performance recently. The team included four members who were in the university for the assessment and accreditation purpose.The team in the exit meeting expressed satisfaction over the academic progress and achievement of the varsity. In the meeting, a letter was given to Prof Topadhior Bhattacharjee, VC, Assam University in which team’s critical study of the university was included.The team members said that “The university is located in the remote corner of the country. But being in the remote corner, it is still marching ahead. It is certain that due to its geographical location, it may have to face many obstacles. With these obstacles, the university will come to international level, they hoped.The team offered a couple of suggestions for the uplift of the university. They suggested internet connection at all levels, introduction of credit base system, closer rapport with affiliated colleges, centralised administrative function, stress on woman studies, etc.The team also expressed satisfaction at the adherence to guidelines in respect of administration of OBC and minority students.In the valedictory function Prof GD Sharma, Pro VC, S Sengupta, Registrar, Dr Bibhas Dey, Deputy Registrar, Dr Niraranjan Roy, Dr M Dutta Choudhury were present at the function. source: assam tribune

Silchar businessman drowns in Chatla Haor

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A 42 year old businessman named Seetu Ranjan Paul drowned in Chatla on Sunday.Though he was a resident of Rajpur near Kathal Bagan,he was renting a room in Shyamananda Ashram road in Silchar.

Seetu paul boarded a boat on Sunday from shilkuri to go to Rajpur.Unfortunately,the boat capsized in the middle of the Chatla Haor.Ganesh Das,the rower,swam ashore but Seetu paul got drowned.The body was found the next day.

The police reached the spot after getting information and sent the body to Silchar Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination following which the dead body was given back to the family members. source: observer24/7

Carlifters held

Silchar, Aug. 17: Police have arrested one Raju Barman, 30, and his accomplice Champa Basumatary, 25, from a hotel in Silchar town on charges of being involved in an inter-state car theft racket and killing several drivers.

A police official today said the duo were staying at the hotel with fake identity as Ajit and Anju Deb. He said acting on specific information, the police raided the hotel and arrested them on Wednesday.

“Initially the accused were trying to give an impression that they were singers. The police even recovered a music keyboard from their possession. But after several hours of interrogation they confessed to lifting five cars after killing the drivers recently,” the official said.

While Barman hails from Nalbari district, Basumatary is from Guwahati.
The couple will be taken to Shillong on Tuesday for interrogation. source: telegraph india

Police arrests notorious car thief

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The notorious car thief Bapan Paul alias Keti has been arrested.The police arrested him from his house situated at 2nd Link Road at around 11pm in the night on Tuesday. When police raided his house,Bapan tried to deceive the police by hiding in the bathroom.Eventually,he was arrested.

Karimganj police rescues a kidnapped girl

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Karimganj police retrieved Mumpy Das,a 15 year old kidnapped girl from Kanishail on Friday night.The girl is a resident of Haflong and was handed over to Haflong police on Sunday.Mumpy was presented before the Magistrate for recording her statement following a physical check up.
Mumpy stated that she was abducted by Bapan Khan alias Akhtar Khan along with one of his accomplice.They gagged her and then took her to a house in Mahadeb Tilla but the police raided the house shortly. Before the arrival of the police, they took her to a nearby house and threatened her by putting a blade on her throat.She was asked not to scream.After that,Bapan brought Mumpy to his uncle’s house in Kanishail.

Karimganj police on being tipped by the secret sources raided Bapan’s uncle Abdul Aziz’s house in Kanishail on Friday night.Mumpy’s parents took her back from police custody on Monday after her statement was recorded. source: observer24/7

Repair work to fix potholes on Sonai road

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Silchar district administration has decided to take action regarding the repairing of the disastrous road condition of Shonai road. Gautam Ganguly, the DC assured that BRTF would commence the work shortly.

Some voluntary orgaisations including the ‘Agragami club’ of Shonai announced a ‘road block’ on 21 st of August when numerous memoranda provided to the district administration were ignored.

The patch spanning from Rangerkhari to Nagatilla is in horrible condition.The potholes are creating difficulty in transportation. The DC summoned the BRTF authorities on Tuesday to discuss the sorry state of affairs. In the meeting BRTF authorities revealed that land has been requisitioned from Kashipur and Badripar first and second block for the construction of the national Highway no 53. It was pointed out that work is progressing well.

The Deputy commandant of BRTF as well as the Municipal Commissioner of Silchar were present in the meeting. The organisations staging the ‘Road Block’ refused to call it off unless they are given a written commitment from the DC. source: observer24/7

Silchar fumes over ‘crater exhibition’

Aug. 27: Aditi Purakayatha, a 40-year-old government official, virtually runs through her morning chores, skips breakfast and leaves home for office at least an hour earlier than she used to even four months ago. The entire hassle is the fallout of a broken, potholed road.

Bumpy ride: The potholed Sonai Road

“An exhibition of craters” — that’s what residents have taken to calling the stretch that connects Aditi’s neighbourhood on Sonai Road to her office on Club Road.

The 2.5km stretch that connects Club Road with Sonai Road via Central Road, Nazirpatty and Premtala, also links National Highways 53 and 54 on the western and southern fringes of the town.

Once a showpiece road, it is now a slushy waterlogged stretch with choked drains, ill-constructed culverts and encroachments.

On most days, Aditi bravely decides to negotiate the stretch even if that means getting stuck for hours in traffic that crawls through the potholed road.

When she is in a tearing hurry, she takes a detour of a few kilometres, though it means spending that much more on fare.

But not everyone can deal with this daily hassle with Aditi’s stoicism.

Last Thursday, hundreds of exasperated residents blocked Sonai Road, which opens on National Highway 54 and leads to Mizoram, demanding that the link road be repaired immediately.

Deputy commissio-ner Goutam Ganguli sent a delegation of officers to pacify the protesters, who refused to climb down from their demand that repairs should begin within a fortnight.

What irked the residents most was the fact that the road has been renovated three times since 1996, when the national highway division of the PWD bagged the contract from the Union government’s transport and national highways ministry to maintain it.

Each time, the repairs cost Rs 4.5 crore, but it took only a few weeks for the road to be back in bad shape.

The commander of the 36 wing of the BRTF under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), P. Cherian, said one of primary reasons why the repairs did not last, is that road is bow-shaped and collects rainwater easily.

Though the residents have been threatening to intensify their agitation if the road was not repaired immediately, Anjan Chanda, an executive engineer of the PWD’s national highway division, doubts if repairs, which will cost Rs 5.6 crore, should be taken up during the monsoons. source: telegraph india

Read More:

Silchar businessman drowns in Chatla Haor

Police arrests notorious car thief

Karimganj police rescues a kidnapped girl

Repair work to fix potholes on Sonai road

Silchar fumes over ‘crater exhibition’

Desi twist to African safari

Desi twist to African safari
- The popularity of Bollywood music awes singer

Voice of India Debojit Saha writes about his experiences during a recent tour to South Africa...For the footloose, the term African safari would immediately conjure up images of an adventure in the wild. For me, however, it was an awesome musical journ ey.

On a sultry Sunday, just a week ago, I performed to a packed audience at Johannesburg, one of the biggest cities in South Africa. I was invited to perform for the desi community settled there. In fact, they even have an organisation of their own called India Club.Interestingly, my trip to South Africa was organised by a Silchar-born NRI who also happens to be a Debojit.

Needless to say, the show was great — for me as well as the music lovers there. Besides Indians, there was a fair number of local people among the audience. I learnt that Hindi films and music are very popular among the South African people. But the biggest surprise came when two South African girls belted out Bollywood numbers at the show.

I was told that playback singer Sonu Nigam, too, had performed at the same hall a few years ago and that the people were dying for another show by an Indian singer. Though I had little time to travel after the show, I managed to meet Kirti Menon, the great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. The respect the people of South Africa have for Gandhi is unbelievable. And the respect trickles down to anyone who is from India.

I had a great desire to meet Nelson Mandela, who I admire. So I landed at Mandela’s home but was told that he was out on an engagement and would not be back within a few hours.
The officials wanted to fix and appointment for a later date, but I had to decline, as I had to return. But I promised myself that the next time I am in South Africa, my first engagement will be a meeting with Mandela. source: telegraph india

Dispur turns a blind eye to breach in Barak banks

Aug. 11: When chief minister Tarun Gogoi peered down at acres and acres of submerged Cachar countryside from his chopper in September last year, he promised that there would be no dearth of funds for repair of embankments. Not a rupee has trickled in from Dispur in the past 11 months. With incessant showers threatening to wash away the existing embankments, a desperate water resources department does not know whether to remind Dispur of its promise or try out its own devices to plug the breaches.

At least 35 breaches in the embankment along the Barak need to be repaired immediately.
After last year’s deluge, engineers of the water resources department drew up a repair plan with an estimated expenditure of Rs 16 crore. Dispur had then said it would be able to shell out Rs 5 crore and asked the department to make do with the new budget.But the promise remained only a promise and the water resources department began looking for ways to get the work done without financial aid from Dispur.

“We have undertaken repairs on the minor breaches and damages on the embankments by goading the contractors to take up the work without waiting for payment,” said Ranadhir Bose, executive engineer of Cachar water resources division. The government already owes Rs 2 crore to the contractors registered with the department for earlier work. The contractors have now made it clear that unless they received money, they would not take up any more repairs.

Though it did not rain as heavily this year as it did last September when the district suffered two waves of floods, a week of constant shower could cause the burst its banks and inundate Cachar.
And then it will be time for more empty promises. source: telegraph india

Silchar businessman arrested for wife’s death

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Correspondent Silchar, Aug 10 – Bablu Basak, son of a reputed business man, was arrested recently in connection with death of his wife Paramita Basak in Silchar town. Paramita died at Silchar Medical College after consuming poison. Bablu was taken into remand and presented in the court.After the incident, the family members of Paramita lodged an FIR at Ragirkhari Police Station. The family member said that Paramita’s death was a planned murder.Sources said that the couple had a quarrel after which Paramita was killed.The accused said that both of them tried to commit suicide but incidentally he survived. However, police arrested Bablu Basak, his father Shudhir Basak and mother Shikharani Basak. The parents of Bablu had to be admitted in the hospital for illness. source: assam tribune

Bid to tackle traffic problem of Silchar

correspondent SILCHAR, Aug 10 – ‘Society Activist For Forest and Environment’ (SAFE), an NGO of Silchar town, has come forward to help the district administration to reduce the traffic problem in the city.Violet Baruah, Superintendant of Police, fully supported the organisation for the initiative.As per the information received, the organisation will strongly stand by the side of the administration to reduce the traffic-related problem in the town. If needed the organisation may come forward with its own drive. Jishnu Dutta, a member of the NGO, said that “the traffic jams in the city has created a grim situation. It has also created pollution. It has been seen that most of the people in the city are suffering from allergy problems. As far as the environment pollution is concerned traffic jams are solely responsible. The NGO will also try to tackle this problem”.The NGO also requested other organisations to come forward with such activities. This will help them to work promptly. The members of SAFE also said that the traffic problem in the town remains unsolved as the role of traffic is negligible. source: assam tribune

1 lakh job cards issued in Cachar district

Karimganj , Aug 8 – Aabout one lakh job cards have been issued under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). This was revealed at a review meeting held at the conference hall of the deputy commissioner, Cachar which was attended by Santosh Mohan Deb, Union Minister, Dinesh Prasad Goala, Minister, Town and Country Development, besides, Ajit Singh, parliamentary secretary and MLAs Bithika Deb, Parimal Suklabaidya, Kutub Ahmed Mazumdar, Ataur Rahman Majarbhuiya and Dr Rumi Nath.It was informed at the meeting that till date Rs 31,34,34,000 has been spent and 131 projects have been implemented. The progress so far achieved under the scheme is 53.75%.Earlier, a meeting of the vigilance and monitoring cell presided over by Santosh Mohan Deb resolved to blacklist those contractors who were delaying construction of the Prime Minister’s Gramin Sadak Yojana. Progress can be seen in respect of implementation of Indira Gandhi National Pension Scheme, total sanitation campaign, sarva siksha abhiyan and backward area development fund.Emphasis was laid an involvement of panchayat raj elected members in the implementation of the schemes. Instructions are to be issued to the authorities concerned for completion of school building under SSA.For implementation, 22 projects under swarna jayanti saharia rojgar yojana (SJSRY) in the municipal area of Silchar town, Rs 64 lakh has been sanctioned, besides Rs 16 lakh has been allocated for SHGs.This was discussed at a meeting in the conference hall of the DC, Cachar which was presided over by DC Gautam Ganguli.According to Silchar Municipal Board, 22 spots have been identified in the town for improvement of road and drainage by engaging labour force for which Rs 64 lakh will be spent. Rs 42 lakh will be utilised for improvement of the RDI hall, out of which Rs 33 lakh will be given to Silchar development authority.For Lakhimpur subdivision, Rs 80 lakh has been earmarked for various development works, including a community hall near Lakhimpur town committee. source: assam tribune

Lack of man & machine stresses out policemen

Aug. 6: It seems unbelievable, but Silchar police have only two vehicles to help them fight crime.

The trouble of the law-keepers does not end here. Not only are they ill-equipped, they are also understaffed.

Policemen in Silchar rue that there are times when there is a dearth of policemen for routine duties like patrolling, traffic control and crime investigation, as a large number of the force is deployed to guard politicians, top government officials and ministers.

According to a senior police official, as many as 94 from the armed branch of the police of the total 270 present in Silchar, have been assigned for VIP duty.

A senior police official, who had recently joined the force in this district, admitted that the work pressure was getting to him.

The ever-swelling number of crimes, both petty and serious, demands a lot from the officers who find it difficult to tackle the workload.

The officer said cases of murder are more frequent in rural areas where occasional tiffs over the farmlands tend to snowball into killings.

The police officials admit that the thefts and robbery in this district are now very much on the rise.

The police records bring out the grim fact that in the second quarter of the year there were as many as 22 murders and 234 cases of property-related crimes in the district. The figures are bad enough to deliver a rude jolt to the police top brass here.

The weak police infrastructure such as lack of proper vehicles, or a close-knit intelligence-gathering machinery makes it difficult for the officers to fight crime.

The policeman-civilian ratio in Cachar district is 1:1607, one of the lowest in the country.
The official points out that during the past 24 years there has been no addition to the police force in the district even as the population is on the rise.

According to the 2001 national census, the population in Cachar district was nearly 14.24 lakh as against the 1991 figure which showed the district’s population to be 12.15 lakh, confirming the trend of a fast escalation of population in the district.

Silchar Sadar police station in downtown of Silchar town presents a unique example of how a police station strives to wage a losing battle against the ever furtive and elusive bands of criminals.

This station has now only 39 policemen to watch over the wellbeing of about three lakh citizens.
Cachar’s new superintendent of police Violet Barua has stressed the urgency of community policing by taking the help of young men and veterans in crime-prone areas.

It is the only answer they have as of now to tackle crime in such areas. source: telegraph india

Rail services hit by shutdown in Assam

Silchar (Assam), Aug 8 (IANS) Schools and offices remained closed and rail services were disrupted in four Assam districts Friday as students and youth organisations called a 12-hour shutdown to protest delay in completion of rail projects.

All Cachar-Karimganj-Hailakandi Students’ Association (ACKHSA) called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown across the four districts of southern Assam - Cachar , Karimganj , Hailakandi and North Cachar hills districts.

Most shops, business establishments, government offices and educational institutions remained closed. Roads wore a deserted look while rail services were also disrupted by protesters blockading the tracks.

‘No incidents of violence have been reported so far,’ said a police official. About 150 protesters were arrested by the police from different places of the four districts.

‘The dawn-to-dusk strike was total,’ said Rupam Nandi Purkayastha, president of the ACKHSA.
The ACKHSA and the All Dimasa Students’ Union (ADSU), supported by Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been protesting against the delay in Lumding-Silchar broad gauge conversion work since early June.

The foundation stone for the 201-km Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project was laid in 1996 by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and work was supposed to be over by 2006.

The gauge conversion project, declared a national project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was considered as the lifeline for southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur. According to Northeast Frontier Railway, so far 50 people, including construction workers and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, were killed by militants in southern Assam after the Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project was undertaken.

‘Militancy and acquiring of land besides shortage of funds are the main problems for the gauge conversion project,’ a railway official said on condition of anonymity.

Railway authorities on May 15 suspended train services in the Lumding-Badarpur Section and also evacuated about 1,200 railway staff from 13 railway stations of the North Cachar Hills district following a spurt in violence by the separatists group Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), also known as Black Widow.

The construction companies have estimated a loss of about Rs.500 million during April-May due to the spurt in insurgency. source: sindhtoday

Cement Corporation of India's Silchar Cement Unit

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Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi laid foundation stone for Cement Corporation of India's Silchar Cement Unit in Baikunthpur in Kalain Block of Katigorah constituency near Silchar. Congress stalwart and Union heavy industries and public enterprises minister, Sontosh Mohan Dev disclosed that this plant, with the capacity of churning out nearly 500 tonnes of cement a day, would be under the aegis of public sector Cement Corporation of India (CCI)’s Bokajan unit in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. Apart from CM Gogoi, Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev and CCI 's top officials were present on the occassion.Incidently Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev and his ministry are behind this big project.

Stir over BG project non-implementation

KARIMGANJ, Aug 4 – Due to lack of coordination between State and Central Government the Lumding-Silchar BG project has been unable to see the light of the day. Year 2006 was fixed for completion of the project, but the Assam government is not keen to develop southern Assam, alleged Rupam Nandi Purkayastha, president, All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association (ACKHSA).While talking to mediapersons, he said that 31 organisations of Barak Valley have agreed to extend their cooperation in launching mass movement for the implementation of the BG project. ACKHSA and All Dimasa Students Union (ADSU) will jointly launch the movement in Barak Valley and NC Hills. Both the organisations have decided to observe August 8 as protest day and called for 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh in Barak Valley and NC Hills.Kumarjit Jarosa, vice president ADSU, also attended the press meet.

Awareness meet: Under the auspices of PHE, Silchar division 2 and Society for Progressive Implementation and Development, Kumbha GP level awareness meeting under TSC was held at Kumbha LP School recently.In course of his speech Tapan Sarmah, assistant engineer, PHE, Silchar division 2 and resource person disclosed that Kumba GP consists of 19 villages of which 16 villages belong to tribal people. Altogether 16210 people are living in these villages, out of which the number of SC and ST people are 1570 and 2369 respectively.He said, under TSC programme, the PHE department has provided fund in construction of low cost sanitary unit in rural house holds through NGOs besides providing health education among the rural people.Pradip Tanti, GP president was in the chair. source: assam tribune

Silchar needs a third water treatment plant

Aug. 4: There seems be no end to water woes for the residents of Silchar, the headquarters town of Cachar district. Even after two water treatment plants, there is a need for a third one to meet the ever increasing demand for safe drinking water.

First, there was a nagging paucity of potable water at its main water treatment plant in Silchar because of the slush and mud in the Barak.

The plant, commissioned in 1974 and designed to supply five million gallons of water a day to the town’s 18,000 households and commercial establishments, has outlived its utility.

Thanks to local Congress MP and Union industries minister Sontosh Mohan Dev, a Rs 5-crore central fund was pumped in to hike its output by another five million litres.

But with the town’s population touching 2.5 lakh, there was a need for a second water treatment plant. Its foundation stone was laid on April 22, 1999, by then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

Set up to cater to the needs of the middle class population inhabiting eight municipal wards, the plant at Ranghirkhari on the southern flank of the town cost the central exchequer Rs 13.6 crore and became functional on February 25, 2006. It ensured an output of only five lakh litres of potable water a day to 1,000 households and is now under the management of the Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

The board has made it clear that it is not in a position to supply more water for domestic consumption. According to Kumud Das, the assistant executive engineer of the board, piped water supply to the other inhabitants in the southern extremity of the town is simply not possible because of its production limitations.

The plant hauls water from the Barak river through pipes at Kanakpur, 5km from Silchar.
The public health engineering department of the Assam government runs the first water treatment plant in downtown Silchar near the Barak riverfront and the Silchar Municipal Corporation collects Rs 70 a month as service charge from each household.

Its officials are of the view that the water crisis could be effectively tackled only if another water treatment plant — the third of its kind in Silchar town — with a capacity of supplying 7.5 million gallons of water a day is set up in the Tarapur locality on the western part of the town near the Barak.

The water scarcity in Silchar town, particularly during the long summer months, has now taken a new dimension with the board deciding to effect an upward revision in the tariff of drinking water being supplied to its consumers.

The board has slapped a fee at the rate of Rs 17 per kilolitre of water as against the earlier rate of Rs 7.

The inhabitants of south Silchar are now up in arms against this hike and have submitted a memorandum to chief minister Tarun Gogoi pleading for “a reasonable rate”. source: telegraph india

Two Bangladeshis deported

Two Bangladeshis deported, Kammaluddin to be pushed back today
SILCHAR, August 3: Two Bangladeshis, identified as Debendra Das and Pran Kishore Das, were arrested by the Karimganj Police yesterday at Churaibari check gate along the Asom-Tripura border while they crossed over from the other side of the border. The immigrants were today pushed back to Bangladesh through the Mahisasan check point. On interrogation, the infiltrators revealed that they hailed from Natinganj of Comilla district. The Bangladeshis further disclosed that they were to visit their relatives at Silcoorie near Silchar. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi immigrant Kammaluddin who was arrested by the police on the order of the Gauhati High Court would be pushed back through the Mahisasan border tomorrow, police sources said. source: sentinel assam

Bithika Dev distributed TV sets to NGOs

SILCHAR, Aug 3 – Bithika Dev, MLA and chairperson of Silchar Municipal Board, recently distributed TV sets to NGOs, clubs and families who were mostly affected by cyclonic storm last year. In this regard, a programme was organised at Gandhi Bhawan in Silchar town.In the programme, TV sets with dish antenna were given to 15 NGOs. Dev also handed over 1,200 sets to each of the 20 families who were badly affected in last year’s storm.In the meeting, Bithika Dev said that “TV is now-a-days considered as an essential commodity for the masses. It provides information as well as entertainment.”Gautam Ganguli, Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, in his speech said that this financial help has been provided from the MLAs’ Local Area Development Fund. He warmly acknowledged Bithika Dev for the help. Ganguli further said that 305 families had been affected in the last storm and to these families financial aid has been provided. source: assam tribune

Landmark in field of Healthcare in Barak Valley

A landmark was achieved in the field of medical science in the valley. Barak Valley witnessed for a first time a child year old child Nurul being operated upon by a renowned onco surgeon Dr. Ravi Kannan of Cachar Cancer Society Hospital.

Nurul was suffering from Ewing’s Sarcoma a strange type of bone cancer with about 0.5% incidence rate or even less. This was the first of its kind when the child, hailing from a poor family was operated upon and his left leg amuptation was done.

The doctors say he is just doing fine although he remains critically stable in the hospital . If he can cope withthis he can survive for a few more years with a new lease of life. Prosthetic and Physiotherapy at a later stage can be rehabilitating in this case, the doctors added. source: observer247