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Barpeta DC vows to place Baghbar on tourist map

By Correspondent

BARPETA, April 1 - Along with the rest of the State, the Namami Brahmaputra Festival organised by the Barpeta district administration at Baghbar Ghat attracted a huge gathering today.

Braving inclement weather, people from all walks of life gathered on the banks of the Brahmaputra along the foothills of Baghbar hill to witness the traditional boat race of Barpeta.

The district administration also prepared its own theme song for Barpeta district, which was formally released this morning. The lyric of the song was composed jointly by Liakat Ali and Mrinal P Jyoti. Deputy Commissioner of Barpeta district Thaneswar Malakar and Mrinmoyee Mamata lent their voices for the song, which was formally released by Superintendent of Police Shiladitya Chetia.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Thaneswar Malakar, who is also well known as a serious writer, thinker and administrator, said that the purpose of this festival is to highlight the glory and potential of the mighty Red River, besides its impact on the social, cultural and economic lives of the people of Assam and the entire North Eastern region.

Regarding the importance of Baghbar in the history of Assam, Malakar recounted that the last battle between the marauding Burmese army of yore against the tenacious war-hardened Ahoms was fought here at Hadirasaki. There is therefore an urgent need to preserve the historic place along with the war relics, he reasoned.

Both Sankaradeva and Madhavdeva subsequently established Satras in and around Baghbar. The DC informed that the district administration will try its level best to highlight Baghbar as an important tourist destination in the near future.

A seminar on �Problems of Farmers in Char Areas and Means to Solve Them� was also held as part of the festival. Speakers at the seminar opined that floods, erosion, lack of technical scientific knowledge, absence of market and lack of adequate storage facilities are the main problems confronting the farmers of Assam in general and the Char areas in particular, They suggested that establishment of cold storage, checking river bank erosion and perennial floods, providing minimum support price to the farmers and establishment of food processing industries based on the local products can mitigate the woes of the farmers to a great extent.

The traditional boat race and beach volleyball game acted as crowd-pullers. Despite adverse weather, the banks of the Brahmaputra turned into a sea of humanity. Besides Baghbar, people from the surrounding villages too thronged the festival venue since morning.

However, as all the programmes started much behind schedule, it annoyed the already-drenched visitors. Moreover, the pathetic condition of the Assam Tourism stall at the venue was an eyesore. Bereft of personnel to guide any inquisitive tourist, the very purpose of the festival, it seems, was partially defeated.

In Dhubri: Along with a host of other programmes, the Vintage Section of the photography exhibition and replica house of an indigenous Muslim family have become the centre of attraction of the Namami Brahmaputra Festival here, adds our Correspondent.

From photographs of freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose to members of the royal family of Gauripur, the vintage collection of the photography exhibition took the spectators down memory lane. Many young visitors seemed amazed to see the black and white collections.

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