Durga Puja Badarpur Barak Valley

Durga Puja preparations under way at Badarpur
Correspondent
BADARPUR, Sept 30 - With the annual Autumn festival just around the corner, members of over a hundred community puja committees at the railway township here are presently on an overdrive to get their act together so that the five-day festivities from October 5 may be accomplished without any hiccups.

With the traditional drummers, popularly known as ‘dhakis’, already flooding the township, their presence has added to the overall festive ambience. One can already hear the rhythmic beats of their ‘dhaks’. Braving occasional inclement weather and steep prices, citizens representing every strata of society are witnessed making a beeline to the heavily stocked bazaars for making festive purchases.

A few rituals that go with the pujas are inauguration by distinguished personality, Sasthi puja, ‘Kala Bou - aanayan’, ‘pratima sthapan’, ‘nave patrika prabesh’, ‘anjali pradan’, ‘anno-bhog seva’, ‘aarati’ competition, ‘Chandi paath’, ‘Sandhi puja’, Kumari puja, ‘mahayagya’, various saradiya cultural functions, Dasami puja, women’s ‘sindoor khela’, ‘Vijaya sovayatra’, ‘santir-jal-sparsha’, ‘Vijaya mistimukh’, among others.

Significant puja pandals here this season include RailwayAnandadham Kalibari Puja Committee, Jangla Kalibari Puja Committee, Railway Traffic Colony Puja Committee, GRP Colony Sarbajanin Puja Committee and Badarpur ST Road Durga Puja Committee, to name only a few. The last-named puja committe is credited with stepping into its 35th year of celebration. Noteworthy too is the fact that the Badarpur Ghat Devendra Nagar Sarbajanin Durga Puja will be an all-women affair.

The Badarpur Town Committee has in the meantime made special arrangements to enhance civic amenities throughout the festive days. It has resolved to supply drinking water twice a day, provide sufficient lighting arrangement, and maintain cleanliness. The police administration too has gone the extra mile to ensure peace and tranquility in the entire Karimganj district, SP Mihir Goswami informed this newspaper. Besides Badarpur, Silchar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Lakhipur and several other places of Barak Valley too are preparing to celebrate Durga Puja. source: assam tribune

Durga Puja Barak Valley Karimganj Hailakandi Silchar Assam Badarpur North East India Durga Puja

Bamboo flowering leaves mill starving

June 30: The flowering of bamboo groves in Mizoram has raised fears of a sharp dip in output at the Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd, which is just back on its feet after a blaze.

After lying defunct for nearly a month following a fire at its digester machine room, the paper mill at Panchgram became operational last week.

But chief executive officer Mohan Jha’s pressing concern now is the shrinking supply of raw materials, which could land the Rs 387-crore enterprise in trouble again.

The paper mill with a capacity of 1 lakh tonne annual output, gets its supply mainly from North Cachar Hills and Mizoram.

With the once-in-50-years phenomenon of bamboo flowering destroying groves, the Panchgram paper mill cannot hope for a steady supply for the next few months.

“The little stock left in Mizoram cannot be transported to Panchgram through National Highway 53 because of the pitiable condition of the roads leading to the highway,” Jha said.

Adding to his woes is the failure of bamboo suppliers in the Barak Valley to ensure regular supply of bamboo stock from Cachar and Tripura.

Jha is now hoping that a good monsoon will feed the rivers in Mizoram and facilitate transportation through the waterways.

Union heavy industries and public enterprises minister Sontosh Mohan Dev, too, is worried over the condition of HPC’s Panchgram plant.

On June 20, the legislator from Cachar held a meeting at his Delhi office to end the stalemate at the Panchgram unit of the mill.

Top officials of the HPC and the executive councillors of the North Cachar Autonomous District Council attended the brainstorming exercise in Delhi’s Yodyag Bhavan.

SOURCE: TELEGRAPH INDIA

the OP-ED page

the OP-ED page

Of Rivers, Floods and Riparian Rights

KN SAIKIA

What may be the lawful rights that may be shown to have been violated by the respective State authorities when it comes to water disputes? Could the Roman principles of riparian rights, as exposed by Roman jurists and writers Home and Buckland, be used in modern practice in India?The frequency and intensity of floods in all the plains districts of Assam is known to all. Inundation also results from southern tributaries like Dihing, Desang, Dikhou, Jhanji, Dhansiri, Kalang, and Kaliapani flowing from the southern Patkai hills and the Naga hills. The Barak Valley is also similarly inundated by rivers like the Kushiara flowing from the Mizo hills. The lower Assam rivers flowing from the hills of Bhutan inundate districts like Goalpara, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Barpeta and Baksa.Recurrence of floods, three or more times a year, has been a regular feature in all districts of Assam. When all the rivers from north and south are in spate, flood emergency is the call of the entire people of the State. The Brahmaputra valley economy is utterly ruined due to destruction of rice cultivation during the summer season, leading to the spectre of famine and starvation deaths all over the State. It is an established principle since the Roman law era that the riparian owners of public navigable rivers have equal rights of collection and use of the river waters, though not always to the river bed. The lower riparians have the same right of collection and use of the river waters as the upper riparians do. All have the right to use the waters of the river and can take water from it for one’s use. The higher riparian owners do not have the right to so collect and use such river waters as to cause to the lower riparians any detriment, loss or deprivation of collection and use of such waters. This principle has been accepted by the Damodar, Godavari and Narmada water dispute authorities, and upheld by the Supreme Court. If the appropriate authorities at the upper reaches so collect and use such waters in dams and reservoirs, and so release some of those waters without synchronizing with the prevailing water levels, or being oblivious of the lower riparian regions’ water levels, and should that result in floods and damages, the suffering lower riparians should have a remedy in law against the perpetrators as also the State government. When riparian rights are denied, it would amount to violation of such rights, and the law will protect the riparian rights. The Brahmaputra has virtually been Assam’s sorrow. Recurrence of floods, three or more times a year, has been a regular calamity in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of Assam. Construction of dams, dykes and reservoirs, for whatever purpose, may result in obstruction and even denial of riparian rights for the lower riparians. During the recent decades, under different hydroelectric projects, a number of dams, dykes and reservoirs have been erected across some of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra, maybe on the Brahmaputra itself, thereby affecting the rights of the lower riparians. Some of the dams and dykes are of great heights serving as reservoirs of the enormous quantities of river waters obstructing the natural flow of the river waters to which all the riparians have their rights under the law. Besides, the reservoir waters sometimes submerge vast areas and population necessitating their displacement and relocation. In case of constant rains in the catchment areas, these dams and dykes prove to be unable to contain water beyond their capacity and a serious problem arises. At such times, the lower riparian areas also reach the end of their saturation point. At such a stage, when the dam/reservoir authorities, without measuring its possible effects on the lower riparian region, without any intimation or forewarning, release the excess dam/reservoir waters, the lower riparian areas — already having been under imminent or even prevailing flooded condition — bear a tsunami effect, with enormous loss in terms of damage to life and property.In recent years, often there have been bolts from the blue. There has been tremendous rise of water levels in Assam valleys even without there being preceding copious rainwater flow, and continuation of the flood waters even after the rains have stopped for some time. This raises the curiosity to know the cause or causes of there being floods sans immediately proceeding or contemporary rains in the catchment areas. Such were the cases reported in lower Assam riparian districts of Barpeta and Baksa in 2007/2008, and of Dhemaji, Dhakuakhana, North Lakhimpur and Majuli areas after only two or three, reportedly, raining days in the catchment areas during the last week of May 2008, when the weathermen forecasted onset of monsoon in the first week of June. One, therefore, wonders if these had anything to do with unsynchronized and uninformed release of dam or reservoir waters at the upper reaches of the catchment areas. If that be so, there is some room for suggesting that there should be information and synchronization between release of dam or reservoir waters from the upper reaches’ hydel projects and the downstream authorities on contemporary water levels at the lower reaches, so as to avoid causing sudden devastating floods at lower reaches by such water releases — unmindful of the water levels prevailing at lower reaches. Production of hydel power is undoubtedly a need of the day, but only that it should be done without unduly submerging and devastating the lower riparian regions and economy thereby. This may kindly be understood only as a suggestion, and not as an accusation against anyone. Another possible reason may be, as often reported, rapid denudation and deforestation for infrastructure development of areas at the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, thereby sending down heavily silt-and-run-offs-laden downstream, thereby possibly raising the beds of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. This may also have been the result of increasing soil erosion and excess silting and consequent rising of the river beds. In such a situation, the floodwaters, needing wider flowing space, are sure to erode river banks, particularly where the river banks are sandy, loamy and/or alluvial. Indeed, it was a lesson learnt in economic geography that once you raise embankments confining river flow, the embankment levels need to be raised every year so that raising of the river bed raises the high water levels. The example cited was that of the Hoangho (known as “China’s sorrow”) and the Yangshikiyang river’ embankments which ultimately happened to be as high as standing bamboos, and the river beds were virtually higher than the ground level of the bank areas. When the flood water spreads, the silting and alluvium deposits take place over a wider area; when embankments confine the waters to the river bed only, naturally silting is likely to increase on the river bed only. An extensive hydro-geological study of the river beds concerned and dredging may be called for in this regard in the valleys of the Brahmaputra and Barak. This would need Central help and rescue. But the question remains: where would the remedy be available to the vast section of the devastated lower riparian people of the Brahmaputra valley?It may be jurisprudentially safe to proceed with the proposition that the upper and the lower riparian regions of a public river have equal rights to the use of the waters that natural flow in it. When such naturally flowing waters result in foods and inundations, the people can have no right against the other riparian people of the river. But when some of the riparian people obstruct, divert or overuse the water of the river and that results in deprivation, damage and destruction to other riparian population, there is breach of riparian rights and the law has to find a remedy against this. It is the basis of public river water disputes. source: sentinel assam

Funds breathe life into bird paradise

Funds breathe life into bird paradise

June 18: Hundreds of bird-lovers who learnt to tell the heron from the cormorant at Son Beel will unanimously swear by one fact — the oxbow lake’s ability to remain breathtakingly beautiful despite all efforts by mankind to sully it.

With 27 exotic birds and 70 species of fish on its permanent residents’ list, the 13-km-long Son Beel is a tourism treasure trove that the administration never bothered to explore.
There is no infrastructure worth mention, even for the most frugal backpacker. No hotels, motels, or even an apology for a road.

And yet hundreds of tourists flock to the lake every winter to watch the seasonal birds build their nests on the trees surrounding the expanse of water.

That there are any trees left in the vicinity of the lake is a wonder. Timber sharks have stripped most of the green cover in the area and if the administration continues with its blind-eye syndrome, soon there won’t be any tree left for the birds to perch on.

Till 60 years ago, the lake was the breeding destination of shoals of hilsa that swam into Karimganj from the rivers in Bangladesh.

The hilsas are now gone, as are various other more commonly found fish, forcing the fishermen living along Son Beel’s bank to look for alternative occupations.According to an estimate made by a fish researcher, the water reservoir now has an annual output of 210 metric tonnes of fish as against 600 metric tonnes recorded in 1905.

After relentless rallying by environmentalists, the Son Beel may finally get a morsel of the government’s attention.

The Union ministry granted Rs 85 lakh three months ago for developing the lake as a tourist spot.

If the project goes as planned, Son Beel may soon figure on the global ornithologists’ must-visit destination list. Source" telegraph india

Dams of danger

Dams of danger

The aggravating flood situation in upper Assam following release of excess water from the Ranganadi hydel project has raised serious questions over the viability of big dams in the region, especially in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra basin in Arunachal Pradesh. Environmental scientists and activists have decried the Centre’s plan to go ahead with as many as 168 large hydro-electric projects in the region on the ground that the basic concerns before initiating such a large-scale intervention on the fragile Himalayan ecology were largely ignored. Indeed, the hurried manner in which the projects are sought to be pushed through without addressing the genuine concerns such as downstream impacts in the form of floods, loss of biodiversity, seismic vulnerability of the region, etc., seems to corroborate the stance of the opponents of big dams. The situation is certainly grave, and calls for a reassessment of the Centre’s hydro-power policy for the North-East. The opposition of the scientific community has been that the projects are being cleared without a thorough study on any of the environmental and social concerns and the downstream impacts. This is valid reasoning and brushing it aside would only jeopardise the lives of thousands of people likely to be affected by the dams. A riparian State like Assam stands to be the worst-hit by the projects, and we have already been victims of dam-induced floods several times in the recent past. Making large-scale intervention on the Himalayan ecology could also lead to catastrophic consequences for its rich biodiversity. The way pristine wildlife habitats are disappearing across the planet, protection of a biodiversity hotspot is a concern of not just the North-East or India but of the entire world. While the proponents of the hydro-power policy would argue that it is the best way to get cheap, non-polluting power so critical for development, the question left unanswered is that the colossal social and environmental costs of these mega dams could effectively negate all the benefits. The circumstances are compelling, and the Assam Government would do well to engage the Centre in a dialogue on the issue before projects are given the nod. Scientific study done by impartial agencies involving top environmental scientists must precede construction of any big hydel project in the North-East. It is a fact that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports of the projects cleared so far have been shoddy and give grossly underestimated presentations of the environmental and socio-economic losses. The Assam Government can no longer afford to sit complacent, and must compel the Centre to intervene in the desired manner. While we say that flood is our biggest problem, the question is – can we allow anything that can worsen it further? Source: assamtribune editorial 24.06.08

Jaipur blasts suspect apprehended from Karimganj in South Assam

Jaipur blasts suspect apprehended from Karimganj in South Assam

From Jyoti Lal Chowdhury in Silchar

With the arrest of a middle aged Bangladeshi national identified as Helal Ahmed in the district of Karimganj in South Assam recently by BSF in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur and the claim of the paramilitary forces and the police who grilled him about his being a sector commander of HuJI (Harkat- ul-Jihad-al-Islam) in Sylet, there is enough substance to lend credence to the reports of the intelligence agencies that the dreaded terrorist outfit is operating from its Dhaka base. He is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the Jaipur blasts. Investigation by the intelligence arms of the various agencies so far has established that he is a diehard terrorist. He used to frequent Barak Valley, different parts of Assam and across the country. A senior police officer of Barak Valley admitted that Helal Ahmed used to cross over from Bangladesh posing as a cleric, often leading a group of religious persons. The police official said he has been sent for narco-analyst test to SB headquarters at Guwahati and many more things are expected to come out about his identity. Intelligence reports have documents to prove that HuJI is based at 380, Khelgaon, Taltula, Dhaka with ever widening network in close nexus with ISI and other anti-national elements. The deadly bomb blasts in Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi and Hyderabad brought out Bangladeshi connection with HuJI in sharp focus. Director General of Field Forces Intelligence of Bangladesh plays second fiddle to HuJI. Khwaja Ilyas, intelligence agencies say, is the present commander of the outfit whose modus-operandi is to rope in unemployed youths in Bangladesh and India for arms training in Karachi. The agencies have sounded alarm bell for cities and towns of Assam as well. Despite all the big talks of the border being fenced or brought under close watch, it is as easy as ever before to infiltrate or exfiltrate mainly through West Bengal and float or set up modules. These modules are formed with persons drawn from diverse professions, from a tailor to shop owner and engineer. Mobile numbers of some of them have been listed by the intelligence agencies, raising intriguing questions about their unhindered contacts. Suspect mosques and madrasas in sensitive border areas, about which BSF has given enough indication; provide leverage about a large consignment of arms brought in to an air force base near Dhaka by a Kuwaiti C-130 Aircraft which was received by the terrorist outfit in question under the supervision of the Director General of Field Forces Intelligence. HuJI rank and file receive training in Pakistan and Pak Occupied Kashmir. The outfit’s ever expanding base and influence is attributed to its flow of funds. Investigations reveal that a banned NGO of Kuwait Al Harmain linked with Al-Qaeda was the major funding agency for HuJI. Now its main source of funding is Al Farooq International Trust, headed by Amir Urf Maulana. In the Varanasi blasts, it was the Bangladeshis who did the spadework. Mastermind Wall Ullah, local commander of HuJI, was conduit for the three Bangladeshis identified as Bashir Uddin, Mustafez and Zakaria. After carrying out the blasts in the temple city, they safely slipped away and were reported to have left for their native country. Intelligence agencies are worried at the fragile security and long stretches of porous border in the Northeast. Even in the Hyderabad blasts, it were the Bangladeshis who provided a sort of emotional base for the terrorists to carry out the blasts. It is to be recalled that HuJI, a pan-Islamic outfit born out of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) has its cadres drawn from SIMI which provides local base in India and help with logistics. Most militants of the outfit are products of the Wahabi-Deobandi madrasas of Pakistan. Hundreds of cadres, trained in bomb making and armed insurgencies infiltrate the Indo-Bangladesh border for terror acts in India. It has global affiliations and is part of the Islamic front of Osama bin Laden.

Arms being smuggled through Barak Valley

Arms being smuggled through Barak Valley

From our Staff Reporter Sentinel assam
SILCHAR, June 20: A group of ULFA cadres belonging to the outfit’s 709th battalion is currently camping at Unokoti along the Tripura-Bangladesh border with a consignment of Chinese grenades, intelligence sources here revealed. The group has been waiting for several days for the right moment to sneak into Asom, added the sources.

According to the sources, Bangladeshi arms traffickers are active at Unokoti under the cover of the sizeable Muslim population living in Khasi hamlets of that area. A recent report of the Genes Intelligent Review (GIR), a leading US based defense analysis wing, claims that Chinese arms and ammunitions have started to reach the hands of north-east militant outfits in huge quantities through Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Illegal consignments of arms are being smuggled from the Unokoti foothills in the bordering Kailashar district of Tripura to Guwahati through Badarpur of Barak valley, the sources said. The huge consignment of arms recovered at Jorabat about six months back had also come through the same route, the sources claimed.

The Unokoti-Badarpur-Guwahati corridor is believed to be one of the four “safe passages” passing through the Barak valley. The valley, considered to be an island of peace, is used by various militant outfits of the region for illegal trafficking of arms and narcotics. Besides the ULFA, the KLO and the Maoists are using the Bhairengti (Mizoram)-Bhairabi (Hailakandi district)-Meghalaya-Asom route as their arms supply corridor, the sources revealed.

The other two favorite routes of the militants are the Moreh border at Manipur to Asom via Jiribam (Manipur) and Silchar, the district headquarter of Cachar district. The sources said that Silchar, surrounded by hilly terrains, also falls in another arms smuggling corridor from Kamalpur (Bangladesh)-Dimagiri (Mizoram) border to Guwahati via Lailapur and Bagabazar in Cachar district.

It is believed that several consignments of illegal arms and ammunitions are trafficked under the cover of essential commodities in goods carrier vehicles and this can be intercepted if the police becomes more vigilant. According to the sources, the Kanakpur Road leading to the National Highway in the outskirts of Silchar town is one such vulnerable area.

12-hr bandh brings Assam to a standstill

GUWAHATI/SILCHAR/JORHAT: 10 Jun 2008, 0322 hrs IST,TNN
A 12-hour bandh by opposition parties and transport organizations on Monday brought life to a standstill in Assam. The AGP and BJP called the bandh in protest against the rise in prices of essential commodities and petroleum products. The strike was complete in upper and lower Assam, Barak valley and Guwahati. The government had also beefed up security across the state. In the Barak valley, police arrested hundreds of bandh supporters. Many transport associations and workers' unions called a chakka jam in protest against the hike in fuel prices. The bandh was supported by the AUDF, SUCI, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Left and other non-Congress parties.