Assam flood situation worsens, over 11 lakh people suffering
Guwahati (PTI): The flood situation in Assam deteriorated drastically on Tuesday with three more people losing their lives and more than 11.3 lakh people reeling under the deluge across 23 districts, an official bulletin said.
According to the daily flood bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each died at Sadiya and Doomdooma revenue circles of Tinsukia district, while one person drowned at Jonai in Dhemaji district.
With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood, landslides and storms increased to 48.
The report said more than 11,34,400 people were hit due to the floods in Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.
Lakhimpur is the worst hit with over 1.65 lakh people suffering, followed by Darrang with more than 1.47 lakh people affected and Golaghat with almost 1.07 lakh people reeling under flood waters.
Till Monday, over 6.44 lakh people were suffering across 18 districts of the state.
The administration has been operating 489 relief camps and relief distribution centres in 21 districts, where 2,86,776 people have taken shelter.
Nearly 2,850 people have been rescued by civil administration, SDRF, NDRF, Emergency Services and Air Force from various parts of the state, the ASDMA said.
The authority has distributed 10,754.98 quintals of rice, 1,958.89 quintals of dal, 554.91 quintals of salt and 23,061.44 litres of mustard oil among the flood victims during the last 24 hours.
At present, 2,208 villages are under water and 42,476.18 hectare of cropland have been damaged, the ASDMA said.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in several districts.
At present, the mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger marks at Nimatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati and Dhubri.
Its tributaries Subansiri was flowing above the danger mark at Badatighat, Burhidihing at Chenimari, Dikhou at Sivasagar, Disang at Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri at Numaligarh, Jia Bharali at Nt Road Crossing, Puthimari at NH Road Crossing, Kopili at Kampur and Beki at Road Bridge.
The Barak river was flowing above the danger mark at BP Ghat, while its tributaries Kushiyara at Karimganj town and Dhaleswari at Gharmura were also flowing above the red mark, the ASDMA said.
On account of widespread flooding, over 8,32,000 domestic animals and poultry have been affected across the state.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
