Month: August 2023

At least four persons were missing after a boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Dibrugarh district on Sunday, police said.

Nine people were travelling in the country boat, fitted with a motor, when it capsized at Rahmaria near Chabua, they said.

“Five persons swam to the bank, while four are still missing. We have called the NDRF, which is carrying out an extensive search in the entire area and downstream,” Dibrugarh’s Additional Superintendent of Police Bitul Chetia told PTI.

Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajt Pegu, senior officials of the District Disaster Management Authority, Fires and Emergency Services personnel, and other officials are at the spot, he added.

Mr Chetia said that the missing persons have been identified as Shankar Yadav, Sangkur Kurmi, Dhamen Das and Kishan Yadav.

“They were going to Balijan after fetching milk and vegetables from Polobhanga Chapori. There are 60 households in Polobhanga and these people used to commute from Rahmaria to Polobhanga regularly,” he said.

The Chief Minister also spoke about foundation laying and later inauguration of Purvanchal expressway for the people of Azamgarh.

Mr Yadav, in his turn, claimed credit for construction of Agra-Lucknow Expressway, and another project to connect Azamgarh with the state and national capital.

“It is well known that the Samajwadi Party government has constructed the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and in its sequel, Azamgarh will be replaced by the state capital Lucknow and had laid the foundation of the Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway to connect Azamgarh with Lucknow and New Delhi.” Mr Yadav said in a statement issued in Lucknow.

Yadav claimed that land acquisition for the expressway was done under the SP rule and alignment was decided, but BJP stopped its work and changed the name.

“Samajwadis (socialists) always worked for the development of Azamgarh and entire Purvanchal (East UP) region,” he said.

“BJP always ignored Azamgarh and defamed it. The BJP is still betraying people. Its leaders including UP Chief Minister start and end their talks with a lie,” he said, adding that people of Azamgarh have always rejected BJP’s communalism and anti-development approach.

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Mr Yadav said that the entire state and country is suffering because of the “anti-people” and “wrong policies” of the BJP government.

“Farmers, youths, traders — all are angry with the BJP government. State is facing inflation, unemployment and rising incidents of crime,” he added.