Large dams and flood problems are campaign issues both for the Congress and Asom Gana Parishad locked in direct contest in most of the six assembly seats in THE flood-prone Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts which go to the polls on April 4.
Assam has been put on red alert as gun-toting United Liberation Front of Asom militants were on a rampage in three Upper Assam districts where they have mowed down 48 people since Friday, including 28 on Saturday.
Police informed that the grenade went off amid a 500-strong crowd that was celebrating the spring festival of the Mising tribe inside the premises of a local cultural centre. In a statement issued on Sunday, ULFA denied its hands behind the blast and stated that it was the handiwork of 'forces' that were out to defame the image of the ULFA and trigger conflicts between different groups of people in the state.
The flood situation in Assam continued to remain critical with nearly 250 villages under water, affecting over 75,000 people across nine districts.
Two personnel of the Border Roads Organisation were killed and another injured as National Democratic Front of Bodoland insurgents fired at them in upper Assam's Dhemaji district, on Monday night.
The flood situation in Assam, Orissa and West Bengal eased on Saturday as rains held off and major rivers receded allowing relief measures to gain momentum for an estimated 47 lakh people badly hit by the nature's fury.
The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday even though flood waters started have receding in many parts of the state, officials said.
Flood-ravaged Dhemaji district where surface communication is in shambles, is infested with ULFA militants taking advantage of interior locations.
Dhubri is the worst-hit district, followed by Cachar and Darrang.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was completely withdrawn in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s.
At least 117 Electronic Voting Machines malfunctioned and were replaced during the first phase of assembly polls in 65 constituencies in Assam, where the two-phase election process started Monday.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next five days.
Heavy rainfall during the last few days has increased the water level of the rivers in the four districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Kamrup with vast areas of human habitation and cropland inundated, official sources said in Guwahati.
The water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries maintained a rising trend on Sunday with five districts of Assam reeling under the third wave of floods.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam till Thursday.
Currently, the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj are flowing above the danger mark.
The flood situation remained critical in Assam, affecting over 7.35 lakh people from 1,597 villages have been inundated by the surging waters.
The rains have unleashed in Assam affecting close to two lakh people
Nandita Saikia, a BA student at Moridhal College in Dhemaji district, was attacked by Rintu Sharma while she was returning home from her college on Saturday, police said.
Amid widespread protests against the citizenship bill in the state, the govt suspended Internet services to 'prevent spreading rumours'.
"Those who ruled for decades since Independence believed Dispur was too distant from Delhi. 'Dilli ab door nahi aapke darwaaze par hai' (Delhi is not far now, it stands at your doorstep," he told a massive gathering.
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated drastically on Thursday with one person losing his life and nearly five lakh people reeling under the deluge across 12 districts, an official bulletin said.
Major rivers of the state, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing above the danger level at different places.
The Kathmandu-based International Centre of Integrated Mountain Development has launched a project to set up a hi-tech flood early warning system in the flood prone districts of Eastern Assam's Dhemaji and Lakhimpur.
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Thursday with one more person losing his life and nearly 7.18 lakh people in 27 districts remaining affected by the deluge, an official bulletin said.
The army, SDRF and NDRF are assisting the district administrations in evacuating the affected population to safer places, the authority said.
A senior official of the Union water resources ministry said it was an unprecedented situation on the Chinese side where Tsangpo broke a 150-year record with swollen waters and hence China has shared the information with India.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
In the last 24 hours, eight people have died after drowning in flood waters -- two each in Barpeta and Karimganj districts, one each in Darrang, Hailakandi, Nalbari and Sonitpur districts and eight people are still missing.
The deluge, which had affected 2.5 lakh people in 11 districts on Wednesday, spread to six more districts on Thursday affecting 4.23 lakh people, it said.
His magic wand is his floating bicycle made of bamboo!
The Assam Congress on Monday suspended its MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed with immediate effect for "repeatedly violating" the party's discipline, a senior leader said.
With the fresh fatalities, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides across the state has gone up to 42.
The ASDMA said more than 4.87 lakh people are currently suffering in Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Golaghat, Cachar, Dhemaji, Biswanath, Karimganj, Sonitpur, Majuli, Barpeta, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Morigaon and Chirang districts.
The flood situation remained critical in Assam with 30 more villages reeling under water on Tuesday, taking the total number of affected people in this season to around 1.1 lakh in 11 districts.
A total of 246 militants of United Gorkha People's Organisation and Tiwa Liberation Army formally surrendered before Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati on Thursday.
Flood waters today engulfed 22 villages in Assam's Bongaingaon and eroded 60 houses in Morigaon district displacing scores of people as the Bramhaputra river continued to flow above the danger level.
The infection has spread rapidly as the deaths have been reported from nine districts in Assam.
In the event of a Chinese attack on Arunachal, troops and equipment from mainland India will travel on the existing south bank railway till Bogibeel, cross the Brahmaputra on the new bridge and then head further east on the Strategic Rail-Road Link, once it is ready.
