Assam Projects and News

[sunny20rocky]

GUWAHATI, Dec 17 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today stressed the need for tapping Assam’s strategic location for transforming it into a vibrant base for foreign and domestic investors, and which can also serve “as the ideal link between rest of India and the contiguous markets of Myanmar, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia and other East and South East Asian countries that constitutes almost half of the world’s population”.


Gogoi said this at the ASEAN-India Trade Conclave jointly organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Department of Industries and Commerce, Assam, at the Sarusajai Stadium.

Gogoi asserted that Assam’s proximity to the SAARC countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan would enable foreign investors to take advantage of the expanding opportunities for regional integration through intra-regional trade under SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA).

Gogoi also suggested that ASEAN countries having their consulate offices at Kolkata can consider extension of their visa offices in Guwahati to facilitate greater people-to-people contact as well as trade and commerce.

Dwelling at length on the State’s key sectors, like oil, tea, natural gas, coal, limestone, granite, tea, etc., and its tourist attractions, including natural parks and wildlife sanctuaries, Gogoi said the ASEAN countries could exploit those resources for mutual benefits. He also highlighted sectors, like handloom and handicrafts, fishery, diary, cane and bamboo, horticulture, floriculture, rubber cultivation, medicinal plant, herbs, aromatic plants in which both Assam and the North-east as a whole and the ASEAN countries could mutually benefit.

Gogoi also pointed out the Brahmaputra river system as having immense potential for tourism, transportation and energy sectors.

Union Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Dr D Purandeswari said both the age-old links of India and ASEAN were reflected in art, architecture, culture and language. “In modern times, these links were revitalized with India’s Look East Policy. We are now taking forward the relationship, encompassing strategic, political, trade and investment, energy, climate change, science and technology, and people-to-people engagement, among others,” she said.

The minister said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership when implemented could be the largest trade bloc in the world, embracing all ASEAN nations as well as six regional economies.

Purandeswari said the bilateral trade following the conclusion of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement had led to a substantial increase in trade.

“During the financial year April 2011 to March 2012, bilateral trade has increased to almost $ 80 billion – a growth of 38 per cent over the previous year and exceeding the target of $ 70 billion by a huge margin,” she said, adding that yet “we are still far from realizing our full potential and there is a need to further explore the ways to facilitate trade between the two regions”.

The minister said the North-east with a population of 45 million and a GDP of $59 billion shares a long land border with Myanmar, making it contiguous with ASEAN. “With planned infrastructure projects on both sides of the border, economic cooperation will aid development for both regions,” she said.

Purandeswari said the trilateral highway proposed to come up in near future connecting Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand would open up transport to Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam. “A thriving land route between India and ASEAN through the North-east region is planned to create new business opportunities alongside. The strengthening of infrastructure for border trade such as the Rhi-Tiddim road and customs points along Myanmar coupled with the Kaladan multimodal transport project to upgrade the Sittwe Port connecting Paletwa in Myanmar’s Chin State to Mizoram under way would boost trade and commerce,” she said.

The minister emphasized infrastructure “as a dominant area of cooperation”.

“Infrastructure should be a dominant area of cooperation going forward as both sides aim to build transport, power and communication facilities. India itself has an infrastructure expenditure target of some $800 billion in the next five years and ASEAN companies can participate in this. Similarly, the Indian companies, too, should actively look for opportunities in investment zones coming up in ASEAN countries,” she added.

Minister for Commerce, Cambodia, Dr Cham Prasidh said the ASEAN-India relationship had received a big boost following the free trade agreement in trade and goods.

“The ASEAN-India relationship over the past two decades has led to peace, progress, prosperity to a new height. It is now up to the business communities from both ASEAN countries and India to explore the vistas of business opportunities and reap the harvest. We have laid the foundation of the legal framework for them to explore the possibilities for trade and commerce,” he said.

Minister of Commerce, Laos PDR, Dr Nam Viyaketh while drawing similarities between the landlocked Laos and India’s North-east, said that by building up of better connectivity this constraint could be overcome.

State Minister for Commerce and Industries Pradyut Bordoloi, CII president Adi Godrej, Minister for Industries and Commerce, Manipur, Govindas Konthoujam, Deputy Secretary General, ASEAN, Nyan Lynn and DG, CII, Chandrajit Banerjee also spoke on the occasion. Also present were Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Ranee Narah, Minister of Sports, Assam, Ajit Singh and Parliamentary Secretary, Industries, RP Singh.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...dec1812/city05

[sunny20rocky]

GUWAHATI, Dec 24: To add more teeth to the functioning of the State police force, the Assam government is planning to establish two new police forces exclusively for the maintenance of highway security and for the security of tourists.

The State Home Department has also decided to recruit more than 9,000 constables in the State police force after the panchayat elections.

Home Department sources said that the highway police force would be used to check crimes on the national highways and the tourist police force would be used to look after the safety of the tourists coming to the State. “The jurisdiction of the highway police force will be limited to highway security only,” sources said.

Proposals in these regards have already been sent by the State government to the Ministry of Home Affairs for its approval but the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to give its nod in this regard. “After receiving approval of the Central government, we will chalk out the detailed functioning of the proposed police forces,” sources said.

Sources further said, “In regard to the recruitment of 9,000 police constables, the State Home Department has drawn up a policy to make the recruitment process error free and transparent,” adding, “In the last recruitment of police constables, some anomalies took place and cases were filed even in the Supreme Court.”

The Assam DGP is preparing the guidelines in regard to recruitment of 9,000 police constables.

http://www.sentinelassam.com/mainnew...5&ppr=1#143739

[sunny20rocky]

Jorhat, Feb. 18: The Rain Forest Research Institute at Sotai on the outskirts of Jorhat will set up a bamboo composite centre to train the youths and entrepreneurs of the region.

The institute, the only one of its kind in the Northeast under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, will be the first government research institute to set up such a centre in collaboration with the Bangalore-based Indian Plywood Industrial Research and Training Institute.

Altogether 14 machines to produce the bamboo products used in the construction of houses and handicrafts were installed by the Bangalore-based institute on the institute campus at a cost of Rs 42 lakh. Technicians from the institute were training the staff of the centre, slated to open next month, to operate the machines.

The RFRI director, N.K. Vasu, told The Telegraph that with the institute doing a lot of research work on bamboo, the centre would be able to provide technical guidance to youths to take up projects that would help them to generate income.

Vasu said the centre could also impart technical expertise and other necessary guidance to make project reports to avail self-employment schemes.

“There is a lot of demand for items made out of bamboo in the construction industry like bamboo boards and also handicrafts items made out of bamboo within and outside the country,” the director said.

He said items made from bamboo are eco-friendly, energy-saving, cost-effective and durable.

The senior research officer and in-charge of the centre, T.C. Bhuyan, said bamboo mats, incense sticks, laminated bamboo trays, wall hangings, window blinds and candle stands, too, could be made out at a very short span of time with help of these machines.

Bhuyan said 10 to 15 days’ training would be provided at the centre for entrepreneurs interested in this sector.

He said after completion of the training session entrepreneurs would be allowed to use the machines to make their products by charging for power consumption.

The officer said a multimedia hub would also be set up soon at the institute.

The hub will have all kinds of literature and CDs on information about bamboo species found in the world and the information will be updated, Bhuyan said.

He said both the centre and the multimedia hub would be the components of the country’s proposed centre of excellence for bamboo and rattan to come up at the insatiate.

An exclusive bamboo museum — to display various products of bamboo and different species and achievements in the field of research — would also be set up on the institute’s campus in the future, the official said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/111021...y_13586481.jsp

[sunny20rocky]

Guwahati, Jan. 9: Dispur will roll out its ambitious e-district programme to expand online governance initiatives across the state by March.

A pilot project is already on in Goalpara and Sonitpur districts, offering 15 services such as certificates related to land, income, birth and death in the digital mode. These numbers will go up when the programme is extended to the remaining 25 districts.

The public can avail of the listed services through the common service centres (CSC) instead of going to a government office, which is more often than not a “horrifying” experience for most. For a hitch-free operation, Dispur plans to increase the number of centres from 3,881 to 4,375 by next year and is talking to BSNL to improve online connectivity, particularly in the two hills districts. It has also got 28 officials trained in Bihar so that they can train other government staffers from February. It will provide solar/generator facilities to maintain 24x7 power supply to the centres.

“Districts are the key delivery channels for the administration. Therefore, e-governance can significantly improve government service delivery. We will be spending over Rs 100 crore on the project, which will see the convergence between administrative reforms and IT under way in the state. We are tying up the loose ends, drawing from our experiences in the two districts where the ambitious project has shown encouraging results,” Rajiv Kumar Bora, principal secretary, personnel, IT and administrative reforms, told The Telegraph.

E-district is a State Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), a project launched to digitise high volume citizen services and internal processes of administration in the districts.

Having the project in place in all the districts has become important for Dispur as it will have to precede the Assam Rights to Public Services Act being launched in April. The act aims to deliver 47 public services in a time-bound manner, both online and offline, triggering a “mini revolution” in the way government services are accessed and delivered in the state. “Online initiatives and administrative reforms and the Results Framework Document, an instrument through which departments will prepare their vision, objective and target, will usher in a sea change. It will create a culture that will make the government even more sensitive to the needs of the public,” Bora said.

Dispur, which created its IT department in 2003 to help “accelerate” socio-economic development of the state, is also launching the online integrated public grievances cell which will help people lodge complaints against any service not covered under the Assam Rights to Public Services Act, an official said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/113011...p#.UO49GK9YWSo

[sunny20rocky]

Guwahati, Feb. 21: The Group of Ministers (GoM), which looked into the implications of the hydro power projects being set up in the Brahamputra basin, has recommended that the NHPC should examine the introduction of the “piano key weir” concept to minimise any possible adverse downstream impact of the 2000MW Lower Subansiri hydel power project.

Piano key weir is a low cost solution that claims to help resolve submergence problem triggered by dams by placing piano key-like features on the dam’s crest to regulate flow of water.

The concept was suggested by IIT professor Nayan Sarmah to break the deadlock triggered by sustained protests by KMSS, AASU and the AJYCP, among others, against the project coming up at Gerukamukh on the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. The protests have stalled the project since December 2011.

The 13-page abridged five-member GoM report was released by power minister Pradyut Bordoloi here this afternoon after it was accepted by the Tarun Gogoi cabinet last evening. Cabinet minister Rakibul Hussain and Bharat Chandra Narah, press adviser to the chief minister, were present.

The overall spirit of the report, which has accommodated all safety concerns raised by groups opposed to its construction, or want it redesigned, suggests Dispur’s renewed bid to end the dam standoff by reaching out to them without diluting its stand on the need for the dam.

“I am sure there are many among these protesting groups who love Assam and its interests. They will understand the rationale behind our stand,” Bordoloi said, while mooting a “comprehensive approach” covering all aspects to resolve the issue in “public interest”.

Besides accepting the GoM report, the cabinet also decided to dissolve ASEB which evoked protests in a few areas today. (See chart)

Quoting Sarmah, the report says if the concept is implemented even at this stage, it would not raise the cost of the project to the extent of it being unviable. The project is 50 per cent complete and its cost has increased from Rs 6,285.33 crore to Rs 10,799 crore.

Most importantly, the report calls for a special rehabilitation package as it recognises the possibility that Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts and Majuli could be affected by the dam’s impact. The package includes free electricity connections within a defined radius of the project, subsidy towards power charges for agri and allied livelihood besides a bouquet of projects related to livelihood options and infrastructure, executed through a special purpose vehicle sanctioned by the Centre.

The GoM said impact assessment should go beyond a radius of 10km from the dam site and cover Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts, among others, and that it would refer to the Planning Commission-constituted C.D. Thatte and M.S. Reddy committee report, which is yet to be submitted, to address concerns relating to dam safety. It recommended a “pseudo static and dynamic analysis” to allay apprehensions about “safety and stability” of the dam once and for all. It mooted maintaining a minimum water flow (260 cumecs) downstream even during off-peak winter months. It suggested revising the quantum of 12 per cent free power to only the host state and seeking equal share for downstream states like Assam to mitigate the project’s adverse effects. It also sought 600MW purchasable power from the project as promised in 2005.

On the 86 of the 163 identified power projects being set up in Arunachal Pradesh, the GoM said Assam was not a party to these and in no position to raise query on their merits owing to inadequate information on technical, environmental and social aspects. But it mooted adequate flood cushion in upstream projects, federal riverine law for construction of multi-purpose dam projects and a regional body for management of water resource.


http://www.telegraphindia.com/113022...p#.UScDAduQySo

[sunny20rocky]

Guwahati, Feb 20:

The World Bank today said the Assam government needs to speed up the public service delivery mechanism by simplifying the process, making it hassle free.

This was conveyed during a meeting between a four-member World Bank team led by Grace Morgan and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here today, an official statement said.

The two sides also discussed matters relating to administrative reforms and training.

“In course of the discussions, Morgan underscored the need for speeding up the public service delivery mechanism by simplifying the process to make it hassle free. Gogoi pointed out to the World Bank team that emphasis has to be given on Information Technology as well as development of manpower,” the statement said.

Gogoi also said that “a two-pronged holistic approach has to be adopted to develop the IT sector as well as to create the requisite manpower armed with technical expertise”.

The meeting also discussed digitalisation of the administrative system, e-district programmes and electronic delivery to make the public service delivery system smooth and effective.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4435789.ece

[sunny20rocky]

@Tarun Gogoi and Himanta Biswasharma

i have been hearing about the proposed IT park for last 2- 3 years, but nothing has been done on ground except for transferring around 100 acers of land near LGBI airport.
although some MNCs are present, but their head count is too small to accelerate growth in guwahati. Although infinity has proposed an IT park at madhgharia, assam govt. is yet to finalize the developer for the proposed IT park near LGBI airport, which is supposed to have world class infrastructure.

Five Star hotels are getting readied, environment and law and order situations have improved a lot over last couple of years, realty and retail sectors are booming, decent and cheap accommodation are in plenty, education sector is being revamped.

still there are only few IT MNCs and that is too with limited human resource are operating out of guwahati. Hope IT giants will commence their operations in a big way as situation is much better compared to many tier II cities, where IT sector is growing.

[sunny20rocky]

R Dutta choudhury
GUWAHATI, Feb 27 – The power availability in Assam is likely to improve with the Power Grid Corporation of India completing a 400 KV power transmission line from Silchar to Byrnihat, while, the completion of the other ongoing transmission lines of the Corporation will improve transmission facilities not only in Assam but also in the other parts of the North East region.
Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the new 400 KV line was commissioned yesterday, which would facilitate transmission of power from the Palatana power plant in Tripura and the availability of power for Assam would increase as soon as Meghalaya starts drawing power from the Tripura plant.

Sources said that the first unit of the 726 MW combined cycle gas turbine thermal power plant at Palatana was commissioned recently and the second unit is likely to be commissioned later this year. The project is being implemented jointly by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGCL), Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) and the Government of Tripura and the gas available in Tripura is being used for the plant.

The Power Grid has already completed the transmission line from Palatana to the 400 KV sub station in Silchar and from the station, states like Mizoram and parts of Manipur have already started drawing power. The existing sub stations in the Barak Valley districts have also been connected to the Silchar sub station of the Power Grid and the districts would soon be able to draw power generated in the Palatana power plant.

Sources revealed that commissioning of the 400 KV transmission line from Silchar to Byrnihat would be of great help to Assam in the days to come as the power availability to Assam would improve as soon as Meghalaya starts drawing power from Palatana for the industrial area in Byrnihat.

The Power Grid is constructing a Byrnihat-Bongaigaon transmission line, which is likely to be commissioned in June this year. The line will be looped through the existing 400 KV station of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and in the days to come, Guwahati will also be able to draw power from the Palatana plant, when it is fully commissioned.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...=feb2813/at094

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GUWAHATI, March 4 – Governor JB Patnaik in his address to the State Assembly on the first day of the Budget Session today said that the Look East Policy is surging ahead with closer and deeper economic integration by exploring market linkage with the South East Asian countries, including China.
The State Government has taken initiative for promotion of ‘Brand Assam’ in respect of Assam orthodox tea and handicraft items in the national and international markets, he added.

On the Lower Subansiri project, Patnaik said that the Government is committed towards early completion of the project keeping in mind the interests of the people living in the downstream areas and would seek more power for the State from the project.

The Governor admitted that in the year 2012-13, the State witnessed unprecedented floods in three waves, leaving 149 people dead and affecting around 36 lakh people. Giving an account of the steps taken by the Government to deal with the problems of flood and erosion, he said that an Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management project has been launched, which would benefit an area of 1.10 lakh hectares having a population of around 10 lakhs. He also asserted that the Government is committed to save Majuli from flood and erosion and to enlist it in the list of World Heritage sites.

On the issue of crimes against women and children, the Governor said that anti-human trafficking units have been established in different districts of the State and women cells in the police stations have been made functional. For the protection of women and girls, an all-women platoon has been set up in the Assam Police.

Condoling the deaths in violence in Rabha Hasong area during the Panchayat polls, Patnaik said that the violence could be controlled in the shortest possible time.

He said that the multiprogned strategy adopted by the Government to deal with militancy yielded the desired results and this led to signing of memorandum of settlement with both factions of the DHD. This is expected to usher in a new era of hope and prosperity in the Dima Hasao district with proposal for decentralization of power up to the village council level giving equal opportunities to all communities.

On the issue of infiltration of foreigners, the Governor informed the House that the Foreigners (Tribunal) order of 1964 has been amended to ensure prompt disposal of cases pending before tribunals. He said that the State Cabinet, on August 16 last year, approved the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub Committee on updating the National Register of Citizens and it has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India for necessary action.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...d=mar0513/at07

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GUWAHATI, March 9 – Alleging gross irregularities in every stage of the 2000-MW Lower Subansiri Hydro-electricity Project (LSHEP), engineer JN Khataniar, who has been bringing to light the technical flaws of the project, on Friday said that the Dr CD Thatte-Dr MS Reddy Committee report has highlighted some serious drawbacks in the project.
Addressing media persons here, Khataniar said the issues highlighted by the report have once again corroborated the apprehension of various segments of people regarding safety of the dam.

“The Brahmaputra Board, in its DPR (detailed project report) had said that the strong rock for the foundation of the dam is lying 16 metres below the ground, but the NHPC claimed that it found the strong rock only eight metres below the ground, which seems unbelievable.

“The entire God-gifted water resource of the Subansiri river is being totally damaged by the NHPC in the Lower Subansiri project with motivated interest, thus misusing huge amount of public money. The culprits behind it should be identified first in the interest of the nation,” he added.

“Now, the Thatte-Reddy Committee report has also suggested that the sandstone on which the dam has been founded has been considered very weak. Its ability to support the gravity dam is not established satisfactorily,” he said, quoting the report.

He argued that the absence of the dam break analysis is a big anomaly. The Thatte-Reddy Committee report has suggested that NHPC should complete all studies in respect of dam break analysis urgently and get it cleared by the Central Water Commission.

“There are several points on which the NHPC has kept people in the dark till date. Earlier, the corporation prepared DPR against Upper, Middle and Lower Subansiri projects. But, later on the Upper and Middle Subansiri projects were handed over to private developers, which I got to know through an RTI. Now, the disturbing fact is that flood cushioning was done for the upper and middle part of the project but not for the LSHEP. Now, if the two projects, in the nascent stages are not taken into account, it makes the LSHEP even more dangerous,” he added.


http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...mar1013/city07

[sunny20rocky]

Sivasagar, March 19: Work was stalled at all ONGC sites in Sivasagar district for more than eight hours today, thanks to blockades by the Ahom Jatiya Gana Mancha.

The blockade began at 5am and was temporarily called off at 1pm.

Several vehicles were damaged in today’s protests, which were organised because of ONGC’s failure to keep its promise to build a 300-bed hospital in the district.

Mahendra Dihingia, president of the Ahom Jatiya Gana Mancha, said the Navratna company had promised to build a hospital in 2011 and had released Rs 100 crore for the same.

“However, even after two years, nothing has come of this. As a result, we have resorted to a blockade at all ONGC sites like Lakwa, Nazira, Geleky and Sivasagar. The blockade was lifted temporarily after officials assured us that they would clarify their stand tomorrow at the ONGC Assam Asset headquarters in Nazira.” Dihingia said.

On March 11, memorandums had been submitted at the deputy commissioner’s office and at the ONGC headquarters, Dihingia said. ONGC did not reply to the memorandum.

The administration said two sites had been shown to ONGC, the first one was at Poloxoni, near Pragati Hospital. The second one was near Rudrasagar Medical Hospital.

Prasanta Phukan, general secretary of the Tai Yuba Chatra Parishad central committee, said the students’ body was supporting the blockade because the hospital was a long-standing demand of the local people.

“ONGC already has a hospital in Sivasagar, where company officials are mostly treated. It does not benefit the common man in any way. The 300-bed hospital can be built anywhere in the district,” he said.

Phukan said political interference had stalled construction of the hospital.

“We have come to know that ONGC had asked the administration to find a site for the hospital. This was done but owing to alleged interference by politicians who wanted it to be built in their respective constituencies, work was stopped,” he said.

Police said seven activists had been rounded up at Lakwa for burning tyres.

and a few more had been picked up at Sivasagar for allegedly breaking the windows of a bus at ONGC colony.

No ONGC official could be contacted.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/113032...p#.UUk15KztNPE

[sunny20rocky]

Guwahati, April 7: World Bank, which is funding a $150-million project on integrated flood and erosion management in the Northeast, has called for a multi-sector approach towards management of water resources in the Brahmaputra basin.

The bank’s suggestion is meant to ensure that the states involved benefit from the risks and opportunities associated with a multi-sector approach, as the existing institutional arrangements, technical knowledge and capacity for integrated water resources management are inadequate to deal with the recurrent crisis arising out of floods and erosion. Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya will benefit most from the project.

Sources said the project — Integrated Flood and Erosion Management in Northeast Region — is scheduled to get approved by March next year and will be implemented by the DoNER ministry.

The Asian Development Bank, too, is funding a $120-million Assam Integrated Flood and River Erosion Risk Management Investment Programme to provide protection from river erosion and floods in three places of Assam.

The World Bank project information document said the project would aim to bridge the existing gaps and build knowledge using global experience and best practices as well as significant financing.

It will also try to strengthen the institutional structure and capacity in the selected states in the Brahmaputra catchment areas, including Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya. The biggest challenge is to deal with, and mitigate, the impact of annual flooding of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and the flash floods caused by their major tributaries emanating from hills of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Bhutan.

“While the government has relief programmes to help ameliorate some of the losses experienced by people from floods, a more comprehensive programme to better manage the river and bring the best technical approaches to deal with the issue of floods and erosion has not been in place. Assam has also made efforts to avoid loss of embankments by constructing spurs in some vulnerable locations. Breaches of embankments during times of flood have also occurred (apparently over 70 breaches occurred during the floods in 2012), bringing damage and loss of life in its wake. Improvements in system-wide flood and erosion management could be achieved with the design and implementation of a strategic programme, drawing upon better technical standards and a knowledge-driven decision making system,” it said.

The project will have two components — integrated watershed and flood management and information systems.

The bank said the problems are generally substantially different in the hill states from the issues of flooding and erosion experienced in Assam, largely on account of the significant differences in water availability between the hills and the plains.

“The low percentage of cultivable land on the hills combined with the lack of river water and irrigation facilities are leading to low land productivity. Such constraints of water and land are among the main reasons for popularity of slash and burn (jhum) cultivation, which has become unsustainable in many areas and is causing excessive soil runoff in the upper catchment, significantly adding to the sediment load on the river system,” it said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/113040...p#.UWJFL3fc7bg

[sunny20rocky]

wrong thread

[sunny20rocky]

Staff correspondent
DIBRUGARH, April 5 – The head office of the Small Tea Grower’s Development Directorate proposed to be set up at Amolapatty here will be administered by about 103 personnel (sanctioned), which includes advisory panel, field development officers, factory advisory officers and office staff, Amal Rai Chaudhury, advisor to the directorate told The Assam Tribune.
“The first phase of the personnel recruitment process is over and the second phase is going on. The recruited personnel are undergoing training and will be deployed in the fields soon,” Chaudhury said. The head office here already has a deputy director, accounts officer and few other staff. Amal Rai Chaudhury appointed as an advisor in the month of November is presently functioning as the head of the newly created directorate.

It is envisaged that the proposed directorate would organize the swelling number of small tea growers in the state and take care of all the needs of the small growers. The directorate will facilitate formation of primary producer societies (self help groups), play a role of a mediator between the growers and bought leaf tea factories, provide professional tea cultivation training to growers’ groups to set up their own tea manufacturing units, and offer other need-based support and guidance to protect and develop the unorganized sector. Growers’ societies seeking to establish their own factories can avail 40 per cent subsidy from the Tea Board of India. The directorate will also issue biometric identity cards to all growers that would enable them to avail benefits from the Tea Board.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...d=apr0613/at06

[Deb_S]

Silchar: NGOs from Assam and Mizoram have demanded a direct passenger train from Bhairabi in Mizoram to Lumding in Assam.

At present, a passenger train chugs between Bhairabi and Badarpur in Assam daily, but it takes five hours to overcome a distance of 94 km. The people of Mizoram and Assam's Hailakandi district said the train has failed to serve the interest of the common people of the region.

The demand was put forward to the railway authorities jointly by the Mizoram-bases and Assam-based NGOs. Members of the Hailakandi Railway Passengers Rights Preservation Committee, Young Mizo Association, Peoples' Right to Information and Development Society of Mizoram, Northern Students' Association, Gorkha Students' Association, Bru Students' Association and Hmar Students' Association held a meeting last Wednesday at Kolasib in Mizoram and discussed the issue.

They said the present time-table of the Bhairabi-Badarpur passenger train, which leaves Bharabi at 1.30 pm and reaches Badarpur at 6.30 pm is impractical. They sought a change in time-table of the train.

Source

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TEZPUR, May 14 – “Within two years people of Tezpur would be able to utilise multi -storey parking facilities at Dhobapukhuri with a facility to park 300 vehicles,” said local MLA Rajen Borthakur while inaugurating a parking place at Dhobapukhuri here on Monday.
He appealed to the people to cooperate with the ongoing development works in the town, including construction of RCC drains and widening of the road from Mission Charilai to DC Court and Paruah Chariali to DC Court.

He also promised to provide rooms to the petty traders conducting business on the footpath within a short span of time. Regarding beautification of the town he appealed to the businessmen to use the same colour outside their establishments with display boards of the same size.

The inaugural meeting of the parking place was attended by Sonitpur Deputy Commissioner Tapan Chandra Sarma, Tezpur Municipality Board Chairman Allauddin Ahmed, councillors and other distinguished persons.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...ay1513/state06

[sunny20rocky]

GOLAKGANJ, May 13 – The World Bank has sanctioned Rs 2500 crore for the development of Dhubri town along with three other towns in Assam. The chairman of Dhubri Municipal Board, Himbrata Mazumdar, disclosed this information recently at his office chamber.
Majumdar spoke of various development projects that are likely to be taken up and sought the co-operation of the people to translate the projects into reality. Showing the letter issued by the office of the State Director of Town and Country Planning on April 9, 2013, Majumdar said like Dhubri, three other towns – Tezpur, Silchar and Tinsukia were also sanctioned funds by the World Bank. He added that funds would be routed through the Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Programme and the Multilateral Institutions Division, which is under the Department of Economic Affairs, Union Ministry of Finance. The Board will soon convene a meeting of all leading citizens of the town and discuss the various projects likely to be included in the project proposal. He said Dhubri is one of the oldest towns in Assam with a glorious historical background, so some of the projects will focus on preservation of historical places. In order to protect Dhubri town from perennial floods, a project for the construction of road-cum-embankment along the Mora Godadhar would also be submitted.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...ay1413/state07

[sunny20rocky]

SIVASAGAR, June 8 – Finally the long-cherished dream of the people of the Sivasagar has come into reality with the declaration by the ONGC management that a plot of land measuring 50 acre has been acquired at Rajabari, about 8km from Sivasagar for the proposed 300-bed multi-speciality hospital of the ONGC.
ONGC, Assam Asset, Executive Director BK Baruah announced this at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here in the presence of Jatindra Lahkar, Deputy Commissioner, Sivasagar, other district administration officials and representatives of different organisations on Monday.

Requesting cooperation from all groups of society so that the long-cherished dream of the people of Sivasagar district for better medical facilities, can take shape at the earliest, Baruah praised the support received from the Sivasagar district administration in this regard.

It needs mentioning that ONGC, Assam Asset, which has its head quarter at Nazira in the district of Sivasagar, had announced to set up a super speciality hospital in 2010 in Sivasagar district. The ONGC management has already allocated Rs 100 crore for the project. However, the earlier site, where the hospital was proposed to be constructed was found to be a land site which could not be allocated in view of a Supreme Court order and was rejected vide letter, dated January 2, 2013. These outcomes led to delay in getting ready land for the project.

This multi-specialty hospital which is proposed to provide the secondary and tertiary level medical care in broad specialties like cardiology, neurology, nephrology, ENT, oncology (medical, surgical and radiation), orthopaedics and allied departments/facilities, is expected to fulfill the long-standing demands of the people of Sivasagar. The hospital, as soon as it comes to reality, will be a great help to the vast number of patients of cancer, kidney and heart ailments who go to Mumbai, Delhi and Vellore, etc for treatment.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/...un0913/state05