Flood situation grim in Assam; nearly 1.2 lakh hit
Guwahati (PTI): The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday morning with incessant rain across several parts of the state inundating new areas even as nearly 1.2 lakh people were hit due to the deluge in 10 districts, an official bulletin said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an 'orange alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next few days.
IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati has issued the warning for 24 hours from Wednesday, followed by a 'yellow' alert for Thursday and Friday.
'Orange' alerts imply to be prepared for action and 'yellow' alert stands for watch and be updated.
According to a flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 1,19,800 people are affected by the deluge in Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.
Nalbari is the worst hit with almost 45,000 people suffering, followed by Baksa with over 26,500 and Lakhimpur with more than 25,000, it said.
The administration has been operating 14 relief camps in five districts, where 2,091 people have taken shelter, and running 17 relief distribution centres in five districts.
Army, paramilitary forces, National Disaster Response Force, SDRF, Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES), civil administrations, NGOs and locals have rescued 1,280 people from different places.
At present, 780 villages are under water and 10,591.85 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA bulletin said.
Massive erosions have been witnessed in Baksa, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, South Salmara and Udalguri, it said.
Incidents of landslides due to heavy rainfall were reported from places in Dima Hasao and Kamrup Metropolitan.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Chirang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Udalguri, Dhemaji and Majuli.
Urban areas were inundated at many places across Barpeta, Darrang, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kokrajhar and Nalbari districts.
The Brahmaputra River's tributary Beki is flowing above the danger mark at three places, the ASDMA report pointed out.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
