Guwahati diary

Express News Service

Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue on a missionTo create more awareness on the 70 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, its impact on the Indian Himalayas and the growing Chinese security threats on India, Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan writer and activist based in Dharmashala, Himachal Pradesh, has embarked on a journey of the five Indian Himalayan states of Ladakh, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. “We screen the film ‘Escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet’, produced by Mumbai-based Rangrez Films for Epic TV channel. We show this 80-minute film in Hindi to wherever possible. This film makes sense of Chinese occupation of Tibet,” Tsundue, who was in Guwahati recently, said.

Water transport network in city gets a boostAssam government has launched four steel catamaran vessels under a World Bank-funded project in Guwahati to improve quality of inland water transport services in the city. The high-quality passenger and vehicle ferry services were integrated with the state’s transport network system. They were flagged off by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the Pandu ghat. Of the four vessels, two are plying on the Brahmaputra at Majuli and one each between Guwahati — North Guwahati and Uzanbazar — Umananda ghats. They have a capacity to carry 100 passengers and 50 two-wheelers and are powered by 180 HP twin engines which can speed the vessels to 10 knots. The chief minister also launched an e-ticketing system for the Umananda ferry service.

Khalsa Centre ensures access to filtered waterThe Khalsa Centre North East, known for its efforts to help the needy, has set up a water point on the premises of Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati. It has four water coolers and a geyser which will provide 550 liters of filtered cold and hot water every hour. Talking about the facility, the cancer institute director Dr A C Kataki said it would help patients and their attendants, along with residents of the institute, in a big way. He said it fulfilled a big need of the people as they had to buy water. At the Khalsa Centre langar at the institute, high quality food is provided to everyone once every week.

Spit in public and face the musicSpitting in public places of Guwahati will now land you in trouble. The Guwahati Municipal Council has warned of action against people found littering the cityscapes through spitting. It has shared four WhatsApp numbers, urging the denizens to post pictures of people littering the city, and announced a reward of Rs 1,000. The civic body took the step as people blatantly indulge in such acts. Just days after a flyover at Dispur, the state’s seat of power, was opened, it was found littered all over, including ‘wall paintings’ , especially by those who chew tobacco. 

Prasanta mazumdarOur correspondent in Guwahati [email protected]