17-year-old Assam Karate champion wins gold weeks after floods destroy home, training ground
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "17-year-old Assam Karate champion wins gold weeks after floods destroy home, training ground")
17-year-old Assam Karate champion wins gold weeks after floods destroy home Photograph: (Others)
Janmoni Konwar won gold at the 20th All India Independence Cup Karate Championship 2026, winning all three bouts, including a dominant 10-2 victory in the final.
Janmoni Konwar from Jorhat clinched gold at the 20th All India Independence Cup Karate Championship 2026 in Delhi after winning all three bouts, including a dominant 10-2 victory in the final. Her journey to the championship was not easy, as floods destroyed her home and training ground, forcing her family to move to a relief camp. Despite these difficulties, Janmoni remained determined to continue pursuing her Olympic dream.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday (Aug 8) said the state needs a “national solution” to its flood crisis instead of simply having floods declared a national problem.
The demand for a permanent solution to Assam’s recurring floods and erosion has been raised by the All Assam Students’ Union and other groups before successive central governments. Sarma said scientific measures were needed to tackle the long-standing issue.
“Declaring floods a national problem is not going to work. We need a national solution. We need concrete schemes on how Assam can protect itself if water comes downhill from Nagaland,” Sarma said.
He said leading institutions could help identify practical measures to address the problem.
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“If IITs, IIMs, Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University can tell us what interventions are required to solve this problem, we can approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking funds for the implementation of the schemes,” he said.
Sarma said Assam currently did not have a scientific system to effectively deal with floods and had traditionally depended on embankments and geo-bags for flood management.
“Declaring floods a national problem will not suffice; we will also need a way to find a solution,” he reiterated.
On Saturday, Sarma visited flood-hit areas of Mangaldoi in Darrang district to review the situation and assess the damage. He also visited a relief camp, where he checked the food being prepared for affected residents and directed officials to maintain proper hygiene and nutritional standards.
