Development / Assam

GUWAHATI, May 22 — The State Government has directed all the district and sub divisional authorities to stop all kinds of transfer of land in the Tribal Belts/Blocks to ‘non-eligible’ persons forthwith as per the provisions of the amended Chapter-X of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation (ALRR), 1886. The latest move of the State Government is only but a repetition of the earlier instruction issued by it way back in 1993.

The latest action of the Government is a fall out of the representation made by the organisations of the tribal peoples of the State on May 10 to the Chief Minister. The...

NEW DELHI, May 16 – The Congress Party high command may be busy stitching together an alliance, but the Congress-ruled Assam Government is ready with its own wish-list, with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi contemplating to seek a special package for employment generation and solution of the flood and erosion problem on a priority basis. The news of return of the Congress back to power at the Centre has brought with it hopes for Congress-ruled States like Assam, which has for long been alleging discrimination at the hands of BJP-led NDA Government. “I am expecting a better treatment from the Centre...

PATACHARKUCHI, May 14: Squirrels are posing serious threats to betel nut cultivation in the entire area under Bajali sub-division of Barpeta district for the last few years. The area was once considered famous for the production of betel nut and cononut, but now the production is decreasing at an alarming rate due to the squirrel menace.

Squirrels were not seen earlier in the locality at all but it is spreading at an alarming rate. The squirrels have damaged the nuts on a large scale at early stages. The squirrels bore holes even in the hard shells of dry coconut fruits, with their sharp...

KOKRAJHAR, May 11 – Inspite of several landmark initiatives and the new policies and the boasts of the Department of Forests, Govt of Assam, destruction of forests throughout lower Assam is unabated and Kokrajhar district is not lagging behind. Wanton destruction of forests in Kokrajhar district which cover more than 1.5 lakh hectare reserve forest right from Ripu, etc has been seriously damaged by the timber mafia where people from all sectors even from enlightened groups to daily workers hankering after the timber resources.

The destruction scenario has come to such a state that Bisiram...

GUWAHATI, May 8 – The State Forest Department has extended its afforestation drive for the city — Seuj Prakalpa — to cover the entire State. It will now encompass 23 other districts where a total of 23 lakh saplings will be planted. Started a year ago with the objective of bestowing a green cover on the city and mitigating its complex problems of flash floods and soil erosion, the project has so far planted six lakh saplings as against the target of ten lakh. Now, this too has been revised to 12 lakhs.

“We regard this as a good implementation rate, considering the constraints any first-time...

GUWAHATI, May 6 – Unbridled illegal transfer of land ownership to non-tribals over a vast area under the South Kamrup (Guwahati) tribal belt in the past few years has posed a grave threat to the very existence of the belt itself. Over 200 bighas of land falling under tribal belt at the Dimoria block alone are now owned by non-tribals, thanks to these unlawful dealings.

Revealing this, the Brihattar Dimoria Bhumi Hastantar Nirikshan Samiti, a body of several powerful tribal organisations, today said a sinister nexus among the land officials, mandals and middlemen was working overtime in...

DALGAON, April 11 – Dr Iasa, the Director (Conservation wing) of Wild Life Trust of India, recently visited Orang National Park. The objective of the visit was to look into matter of siltation and weeding which has posed a threat to the National Park. Talking to The Assam Tribune, Dr Iasa expressed serious concern over the two issues and stressed on immediate measures of desiltation and weeding. He has already released an amount of Rs 50,000 from his Trust for these purposes and showed keen interest for more funding in the near future.

Dr Iasa expressed much satisfaction over the...

NEW DELHI, April 9 – The mobile telephone market in Assam and other north-eastern States is all set to be more competitive with the likely entry of one more player in the field. Airtel has announced commencement of services in Assam and North East by the end of this year. The monopoly enjoyed by Reliance Telecom is likely to be a thing of the past and customers might actually stand benefited by the competition. The Airtel has entered into an agreement to acquire Hexacom, which has a license for North East. To complete its footprint in the entire eastern region, Airtel has recently applied for...

DIBRUGARH, April 5 — AGP leader Sarbananda Sonowal today startled reporters with an ‘inside information’ that the Bogibeel bridge will have just one BG railway track and not two, as publicly announced by Railway Minister Nitish Kumar in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. However, when contacted, the Northeast Frontier Railway general manager (construction), N Rama Subramanian said: “The earlier proposal of twin BG railway tracks on the Bogibeel bridge remains.” He said work is under way to have the bridge with double BG railway tracks and double road carriageway, and strongly...

GUWAHATI, May 22 – The State Government has submitted a proposal to the Centre proposing creation of four District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) in the four newly-formed districts with the objective of expediting the development process in these areas. Three of the four districts selected for the purpose are Chirang, Baska, and Udalguri falling under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), while the fourth one is the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district. The development blocks to be included in the new DRDAs are Sidli, Chirang and Barbazar (Chirang district), Baska, Nagrijuli and Goreswar...