Assam flood situation grim, Silchar submerged for sixth day
Guwahati(PTI): The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturday with the death count rising to 118 and Silchar town in Cachar district submerged for the sixth straight day, officials said.
Ten more people have died in the past 24 hours -- two each from Barpeta, Dhubri, Karimganj and Udalguri districts and one death each from Cachar and Morigaon -- due to floods and landslides.
The total population affected by the floods declined to 33.03 lakh in 28 districts as against the previous day's figure of 45.34 lakh in 30 districts, a bulletin issued by the Assam State Management Disaster Authority (ASDMA) said.
The situation improved marginally in some districts, as rivers showed a receding trend though the Brahmaputra at Dhubri and Kopili in Nagaon were flowing above the danger mark, the officials said.
The Cachar district administration is engaged in rescue operations in Silchar to evacuate marooned people to safety, with priority on shifting ailing persons to hospital, Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said.
Packets with food, drinking water bottles and other essentials are being airdropped in the town by Indian Air Force helicopters, and this will continue till the situation improves, she said.
Two drones have also been deployed in Silchar for carrying out flood inundation mapping as well as to provide relief materials to the affected people.
Eight NDRF teams comprising 207 personnel from Itanagar and Bhubaneswar, along with an Army unit with 120 personnel and nine boats from Dimapur have been stationed in Silchar.
Nearly three lakh people are under distress in Silchar with an acute shortage of food, clean drinking water and medicines, the officials said.
The worst flood-affected districts in the state are Barpeta with 8,76,842 people in discomfort followed by Nagaon (5,08,475), Kamrup (4,01,512) and Dhubri (3,99,945), according to the ASDMA bulletin.
The deluge has hit 93 revenue circles and 3,510 villages, while 2,65,788 people have taken shelter in 717 relief camps, it said.
Relief materials were distributed from 409 delivery points among the flood-affected people, who have not taken shelter in the camps. Altogether, 312 houses were damaged during the last 24 hours, the ASDMA said.
Large-scale erosion was also reported from several places, including Baksa, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Darrang, Golaghat, Hailakandi and Kamrup, it added.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Reliance Foundation said it has been providing relief support to the Assam government since the devastating flood hit the state.
Reliance Foundation's field team has joined hands with different state government departments, the spokesperson told PTI.
Reliance Industries Ltd MD Mukesh Ambani and his son Anant Ambani had on Friday donated Rs 25 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) to provide succour to people reeling under the deluge in the state.
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Will take legal course if film is stopped: Vivek Agnihotri on release of 'The Bengal Files' in WB
Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI): Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on Monday said he would go the legal route if the release of his film "The Bengal Files" is stalled in West Bengal.
The trailer launch of the film in Kolkata was disrupted on Saturday. Agnihotri claimed the event was first cancelled by a multiplex and then moved to a hotel where power supply was disrupted and police turned up asking if permission had been taken.
"We will go by the Constitution. We will go legally. If they stop us, we will take the legal course. What can we do? We are common citizens like you... We will pray that sanity prevails and the state government does not do it (stop the release)," the filmmaker said at a press conference here while hitting out at the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal.
"The Bengal Files", which is slated for release on September 5, revolves around the Calcutta riots of August 16, 1946, which were triggered after the All-India Muslim League called for 'Direct Action Day' to demand a separate homeland.
"...This is an Indian film. I am telling you the truth," Agnihotri said.
Known for films such as "The Kashmir Files" and "The Tashkent Files", Agnihotri also addressed the many controversies surrounding his latest release, including an FIR by Gopal Chandra Mukherjee's grandson Santanu Mukherjee.
Gopal Mukherjee is said to have played a pivotal role in the resistance against the Muslim mob violence in 1946. Santanu claims Agnihotri's film refers to his grandfather as a butcher.
Agnihotri said Gopal Mukherjee in his film is an inspired character and not central to the plot.
"I will not go into his history. Watch Santanu's interview. I can give you all the links. There is an interview of Gopal Mukherjee on BBC. In that interview, what he has said, we have only shown that much. I have nothing to do with Gopal Mukherjee's life, politics. He was a hero and I have shown him as a hero," he said.
"I respect Gopal Mukherjee a lot. His grandsons work with TMC. There is a compulsion there... They have done it legally. We are giving a legal answer to that," he said.
Agnihotri claimed the film is his attempt to reveal hidden truths. He said he aims at showing "the untold stories of India".
"Our purpose is very clear. I make films on Hindu civilization. That is why I make films on Hindu history. I do not consider myself capable of making films on Islamic history or Christian history," he said, adding that filmmakers like Mani Ratnam and Vishal Bhardwaj have already made movies on the Islamic history of Kashmir through "Roja" and "Haider".
Agnihotri said the censor board passed "The Bengal Files" without any cuts though it went through the examining committee and then the revising committee.
"This film was made with a lot of responsibility and sincerity. No one can object to this. Bengalis will be proud of this film."
"The Bengal Files" stars Mithun Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Darshan Kumar.
