NAZIRA: With the help of a few corrupt officials of forest department, a few stone quarries are illegally running at Bihubor of Nazira sub–division.

The flood situation in central and lower Assam turned critical, with the water level of the Brahmaputra rising alarmingly and flowing above the danger mark in most places. The situation continued to be grim in upper Assam too. The death toll in the current wave of the flood has gone up to 18 and seven persons were reported missing on Tuesday.

As over 17.60 lakh flood-hit people, including about four lakh of them in relief camps, suffered in 16 affected districts, food packets were dropped by the Army and Indian Air Force helicopters in some of worst-hit areas such as the Majuli river-island in upper Assam's Jorhat district, Sootea in Sonitpur district, Sadiya sub-division in upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

SIVASAGAR: With the rising water levels of mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries causing unprecedented havoc in Assam, ONGC conducted relief operation to help the flood affected people of the State.

ONGC has so far taken a slew of initiatives to give respite to the people hit hard by nature’s fury. Among the 24-flood affected districts, Sivasagar, the nerve centre of ONGC’s operations is one of the worst flood hit in Assam. The areas close to the Brahmaputra have been devastated in the floods, with thousands of people rendered homeless and forced to take temporary shelters on high grounds.

Centre to take measures to rebuild damaged infrastructure, wipe away misery of the people

Announcing a Rs 500-crore package for flood-hit Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Centre will take measures to rebuild damaged infrastructure and wipe away the misery of the people. After making an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Upper Assam with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Singh said, "I am making a commitment to provide a central ad hoc support of Rs 500 crore to the state government".

Guwahati, June 29 (IANS): The deadly Japanese Encephalitis has claimed three lives in Assam in the past few weeks, health officials here said on Thursday.

Jorhat, June 26: The flood situation in Assam continued to be grim with more than 20,000 people in nearly 50 villages at Dikhowmukh in Sivasagar district left inundated today after the Brahmaputra

Folic acid debacle

SIVASAGAR: The Sivasagar district unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today staged a three-hour protest at Doul Mukh Charali in Sivasagar against ‘folic acid poisoning’, in which several hundred girls in Sonitpur and Darrang districts fell ill after consuming the folic acid tablets distributed free in schools under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme.

SIVASAGAR: Continuing its protest against construction of mega dams at the site of Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), the Sivasagar district unit led by its district general secretary Raju Gogoi, advisor Lu-chun-Shyam Gohain, publicity secretary Jadumoni Bora and Nari Mukti Sangram Samiti, Sivasagar district president and sister of the peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, Ambika Gogoi Saikia today, led a procession from the Boarding Field here to Sivasagar DC Court, and staged a dharna demanding immediate halt to the construction of the dam.

SIVASAGAR: At a time when indiscriminate fishing has caused rapid depletion of the local varieties in the region, a section of unscrupulous traders are thriving in Sivasagar sub-division and other parts of Sivasagar district.

Fish production in the district has depleted to such an extent that the people have not been able to meet the minimum requirement, not to speak of export. The district has to procure huge quantities of fish from outside to meet the local demand. The reason behind the large-scale depletion is not hard to fathom.

Self-help solves irrigation problem - A Sivasagar village takes up tools to resist erosion, Baksa & Nalbari get aid for farming.