FCI rice bags for Mizoram off-loaded near Silchar

Aizawl, Jun 29 : A truck bearing the number MZ-05-0202, which was loaded with 380 bags of rice from Ramnagar FCI near here, meant for Lunglei FCI in Mizoram for public distribution system was off-loaded at Syedpur village along the Silchar-Aizawl Highway, 8 km away, last night.

On a specific tip-off, a police team from Rangirkhari police outpost reached the spot and took control of the truck to discover that 69 bags of rice had already been unloaded and stocked in the house of one identified as Hussain Uddin Laskar.
Police arrested the driver of the truck Jamal Uddin and labourer Sahabuddin Laskar, engaged in off-loading of the rice bags. Hussain Uddin Laskar and the handyman of the truck, who were involved in the illegal operation, however, evaded arrest and are absconding. Investigating officer SR Barbhuiya, found prima facie involvement and collusion of Hussain, Jamal Uddin and the handyman in the murky affair.

On the basis of the statement of the driver, Ashok Sarda, owner of the truck, a businessman of Janiganj was also taken into custody. Later, he was released. It turned out that the statement of the driver was fabricated to implicate Sarda in order to extricate himself from being arrested.

Barbhuiya said, after investigation and interrogation, an FIR has been filed against the accused and chargesheet framed against them. Officer-in-charge of the police outpost is now looking into the case for initiating legal action against them under relevant provisions of the law.

T Deshmukhya, Divisional Manager of FCI, when contacted said, “once the consignment of rice or any foodgrain is taken out of our godown, our responsibility is over”. Insiders in FCI say, pilferages of rice and wheat as well as sugar all the way from Guwahati to Silchar and beyond on road or train are masterminded by unscrupulous elements, who have virtually floated a syndicate and hardly care for any deterrent action.

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$120mn ADB loan for Assam to tackle floods

Guwahati, Jun 29 : The draft report of the about US142-million-dollar North Eastern Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management (NEIFRERM) Project, Assam has provided the vision and first integrated water resources management development initiative to solve Assam’s flood and erosion problems in four reaches. The reaches proposed to be protected by the project are –Dibrugarh town and its adjoining Nagaghuli and Mohanaghat, Matmara and its adjoining areas in Lakhimpur district, Bonkuwal-Moriahola-Diffalupathar in the upstream of Kaziranga National Park and Palasbari-Gumi and adjoining areas of Kamrup district.

It has also provided for a carefully planned paradigm shift from living with floods to managing floods in line with national and state policies and regulations. This plan is built on a better understanding of the risk environment and it is integrated with disaster preparedness, said the executive summary of the project report.Briefing mediapersons on the report, Mr Knut Oberhagemann, leader of the NEIFRERM Project Preparation Technical Assistance Team, said here this morning that the project was conceived in a manner that could facilitate the sustainable development of the floodplains of Assam in support of the overreaching goal of reducing poverty.

This will be achieved by substantially lowering the risk associated with flooding and riverbank erosion. This will encourage more productive land-use in selected areas of the Brahmaputra floodplains.

Providing a more stable and predictable physical environment will reduce direct financial pressure on poor households and support more productive land-use and overall economic development.

The risk reduction will be achieved through a combination of structural and non-structural measures, directly relevant to improving the local risk environment, planned in a participatory manner and implemented and maintained with direct community involvement.

The approach is in line with the demand of the mostly poor floodplain dwellers for permanent solutions. Poor people will have the option of remaining in a less risky environment instead of migrating to other areas.

Of the project cost of around US142 million dollar, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance will be around 120 million dollar, that is around 85 per cent of the project cost, said the NEIFRERM Technical Assistance Team Leader.

Member of the ADB Mission Mr Kenichi Yokoyama said that the report would be presented separately to the Governments of India and Assam and the ADB Board in July next. If they accept the concept of the report, the fact-finding process would start.

The process will make the document a property of these three parties. The appraisal process of the project is expected to be complete by January next, subject to the concurrence of the three parties.

Following this, the negotiation will start and approval to the project is expected to be by the middle of the next year. But the ADB wants strong specific actions from the State Government as to how the infrastructures are being maintained and also on the sustainability, quality of services and participation, etc.

Only after getting the right assurances from the State Government on the above points, the project will be approved by the ADB, he said.

He also apprised the mediapersons that there was a scope to ‘rationalise’ the loan amount – that is either to increase or to reduce its cost, depending on the steps of the State to maintain quality, sustainability, etc., of the infrastructure.

It needs mention here that the process to prepare the report started in May last year with a time-frame of 13 months. Of the total project cost, 90 per cent will be extended by the Union Government as grant, while ten per cent of it will be the loan component of notional nature, as per the present arrangement between the governments at the Centre and in the State.

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Grasshoppers’ invasion not a good sign

Kohima, Jun 29 : Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has expressed concern over the recent invasion of grasshoppers here opining that the phenomenon ‘is not a good sign’.

Speaking on the sidelines of Rajya Sabha election at the Nagaland Assembly Secretariat yesterday, Mr Rio said although such invasion contained no visible threats, it probably indicated a change in climatic conditions fuelled by global warming.He also cited a few abnormal phenomena like bamboo flowering in Mizoram and subsquent rodent menace. The Department of Agriculture was conducting studies on grasshoppers’ invasion and it had asked the district agriculture offices to report any damage caused in cultivation, according to Rio.

Meanwhile, Director of Agriculture Dr Supong Kietzer informed a local daily that strict vigil was being kept since the first week of June when invasion began. Field staffs were also detailed to keep watch on whether the grasshoppers affected farming.

Dr Kietzer elaborated that the insects belonged to Mitu-grasshopper species, adding that the cause of the invasion was yet to be ascertained. Meanwhile, the winged creatures, under strong source of light, attracted hundreds of people adding delicacy to the meals of Naga people.

The Health and Family Welfare Department is keeping strong vigil on the consumption of grasshoppers, confirming no complaint has been received so far.

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