Braving fierce floods, Assam celebrates Independence Day
Seven militant outfits had given a boycott call.
Guwahati: Braving the floods and defying the boycott call given by seven militant outfits, people came out in large numbers all over Assam on Tuesday to celebrate the country’s 71st Independence Day. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal unfurled the national flag at the Veterinary College ground at Khanapara.
Assam is presently reeling under the devastating floods, then worst in the last three decades. With the floods claiming 102 lives in flood-related incidents so far, more than 22 lakh people have been affected due to floods.
Several youth took to streets riding cycles, motorcycles and waving the tricolour in Guwahati. Teachers and students in flood-hit South Kamrup district schools and Dhubri schools hoisted the tricolour and sang the national anthem. The photographs of I-Day celebrated against odds are going viral on social media.
Earlier, the CM after unfurling the tricolour, reiterated his government’s commitment to rid Assam of corruption. Referring to a survey report of Centre for Media Studies, he said, “The percentage of corruption in the state was 34 per cent in 2005, which has declined to 18 per cent in 2017.”
Mr Sonowal said, “After our government came to power, we adopted a policy of zero-tolerance towards corruption. An investigation was ordered against various corruption cases so that it may be rooted out from the government machinery in a bid to fulfill people’s hopes and aspirations.”