One killed, 9 injured in bridge collapse
Aizawl:One person was today killed and nine others were injured when an under construction steel suspension bridge over river Tuipui in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district collapsed. Lunglei District Additional SP Stephen Lalrinawma told PTI over phone that the bridge collapsed at around 1 pm and one of the injured died at the government hospital in nearby Hnahthial town. He said the condition of five injured persons is stated to be serious while that of one is described as ‘very serious’. Though there has been no investigation by technical persons, the bridge seems to have collapsed after the main string slipped from the base, Lalrinawma said. State Public Works department officials said the contractor of the bridge is Kolkata-based Guha Niyogi and Associates which began the construction on November 19, 2012 and was scheduled to be completed on November 18, 2013.The work, however dragged on and the time for completion of the work was postponed three times and the last schedule date for completion was fixed on December 20, 2014. The officials said that out of the contract amount of Rs 252.75 lakh, the government had paid Rs 212.17 lakh to the contractor till date.Earlier, a Bailey bridge over river Tlawng between Aizawl and the lone Lengpui airport collapsed on October 31 which again collapsed last Monday while engineers were trying to restore the bridge. (PTI)
Infant, 3 others die in mishap
Tezpur:Four members of a family, including an infant, were killed in a mishap near Dhekiajuli in lower Assam’s Sonitpur district today, police said. The incident took place when the car, in which the four were travelling towards Tezpur, collided with a Guwahati-bound vehicle at Keherukhonda turning point on National Highway-15, under Dhekiajuli Police Station, they said. The four were identified as Saidul Islam (40), Haidar Khan (31), Jahima Begum (21) and Sunal Begum (2) of Kalaigaon area under neighbouring Darrang district. They were rushed to Tezpur Medical College Hospital where doctors declared them dead. (PTI)
Assam food processing entrepreneur awarded
Guwahati:All India Food Processors’ Association (AIFPA), New Delhi has awarded Food Technologist from Assam and former Managing Director of NERAMAC Ltd S Bhattacharjee with ‘Nagaraja Rao R Jagdale Memorial Award’ for the year 2013 for his outstanding contribution towards development of food processing industries in the Country. The award was given during the Annual Conference held along with the ’70th Annual General Body Meeting’ of the Association at Kolkata yesterday, a press release said here. Mr Bhattacharjee presented a paper with a power point presentation on the potential and opportunities of food processing in the east and northeastern Region. Hailing from Tinsukia in Assam, he has an experience of more than 32 years in the field of food processing and agro-horticultural marketing.Currently, he is the Executive Director of NERAMAC Ltd at Guwahati. The award has been instituted in the memory of Nagaraja Rao R Jagdale who was earlier president of this Association and an entrepreneur in the field of Food Processing Industry. (UNI)
