A vociferous protest against big dams reaches its crucial stage when union environment minister Jairam Ramesh was greeted with protest as he was arriving in Guwahti for a public hearing on the NHPC owned big dam in Arunachal Pradesh.
As the Union minister started the public hearing at Machkhowa, ITA, hundreds of local organizations and political parties approached him to register stiff protest again the on going construction of the big dam in Gerukamukh by NHPC in the name of the lower Subansiri hydel project. Citing the expert panel report, these parties and organisations have told the minister that the big dam might spell an ecological disaster for the people in down stream areas.
PermalinkSubmitted by Hayang on Wed, 29/09/2010 - 05:16
--Lame Excuse by NHPC CMD S.K. Garg--
Despite strident protests in Assam with environmental concerns over construction of mega dams, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Chairman-cum-Managing Director S.K. Garg says that the project builders plan to commission three units in March 2012 and the remaining five units by December 2012. This is because Rs 4000 crore of the Rs 9000 crore project has been utilized. That means 40% of the expenses have been made. But is this a reason enough to sacrifice environment and the population of downstream areas which cannot be compensated even if the Indian central government bring all the riches in the world. When land is lost, existence is lost. When existence is lost, the very right to our natural habitat is lost.
In the devastating floods caused by the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand, the central government has promised a package of Rs 500 crore to the state government. That means every year there will be floods, the Indian government will dole out Rs 500 crore. So, within 8 years, Rs 4000 crore will have to be shelved out. If this is the economics involved, Rs 4000 crore is nothing for a rich country like India where many politicians and ministers have pocketed hundreds and thousands of crores. So, the justification of Rs 4000 crore by S.K. Garg sounds to be a lame excuse to keep the industrial corporations who fund the elections happy and satisfied.
25 Nov 2012 - 5:26pm | SK Hasan
Lachit divas was observed in different places of Sivasagar district in the memory of the Legedary Ahom hero Lachit Borphukan on November 24. Historic Monument Conservation Committee, Rangpur observed...
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In a well gesture of party strength of BPF ahead assembly election in Bodoland region of Assam, a grand unification of BPPF with BPF under the leadership of Rabiram Narzary, president of BPPF was...
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A day after his party's defeats in the Lok Sabha polls chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that the ruling party has failed to read the pulse of the people which was why, the party won only 3 seats out...
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"Ranga Prabhate Gaan" - a collection of Assamese progressive songs is released at Dibrugarh Chauolkhowa Music College recently. Producer and director Dr. Mohesh Deka of MD films and Music says "the...
Assam will soon have a special cell of police to tackle the menace of fake currency racket. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Monday, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that the incidents of recovery of counterfeit currency are increasing. He said that the fake currencies are pumped into the state mainly through Bangladesh and anti-national forces like ISI are involved in it.
Gogoi said that the Vigilance Cell along with CID, Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offices (BIEO) have already been working on this. The cell will also have officials from the Reserve Bank of India. “We will also take help from the National Investigation Agency over this," said the chief minister.
Assam Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that active role of police would make National Counter Terrorism Centre more powerful. Talking to reporters in Dispur on Monday, he said that a slew of amendments were required in NCTC which he said would help NCTC to help efficiently deal with terror elements.
Notably, Gogoi virtually opposed the NCTC in the recent chief ministers’ conference its present form and stressed involvement of police in it.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday slammed Nitin Gadkari a day after the BJP president blamed Congress government for backwardness. Talking to reporters in Dispur he said that BJP has been keeping the state deprived of its due privileges for yeas. He said only the Congress government has been giving peace a chance to prevail in Assam.
Criticising the BJP leader's comments on Hindu refugees, Gogoi said he was shedding crocodile tears and that the party was not interested in solving the age old infiltration problem through Bangladesh.
Guwahati police recovered cash worth Rs 13.29 lakh from a garbage dump in Barpeta district on Sunday. According to police, the money was recovered from a garbage dump behind the house of one Kishore Deka. Deka had been apprehended recently by the police here for stealing over Rs 21 lakh from an ATM at Guwahati's Gorchuk locality a few days back.
police had recovered Rs 8 lakh from him. Based on his confession during interrogation, police today raided the house at Sarthebari in Barpeta and recovered the money. The notes of Rs 500 denomination, tied up in bundles, have been identified as ones stolen from the ATM.
Sensation prevails in Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh following the sensational murder of a patient on Saturdayu. Incidents after incidents seem to have crippled the premier medical institute in the north eastern region. Even the patients are not safe and secured. Unidentified miscreants killed a patient at the plastic surgery department on Saturday. The victim was identified as Biju Dutta who lost his life when he was undergoing treatment. His sister was also injured in the miscreant attack. He was rushed to the AMCH because of burn injuries along with his sister who succumbed to her injuries.
BJP president Nitin Gadkati said on Sunday that his will soon approach the National Human Rights Commission to seek constitutional safeguard for the Bangladeshi Hindu refugees. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati Gadkari said that denial of citizenship to Hindu refugees is a violation of human rights. He accused Delhi and Dispur of committing injustice to Hindu refugees by denying them citizenship. BJP Human Rights Cell head Avinash Rai Khanna would soon visit Assam for doing ground work for the petition which was expected to be filed next month. State BJP leadership has been directed to start a mass movement in Assam against the step-motherly treatment to Hindu refugees by the...
BJP on Sunday blamed Congress for the lack of development in Assam. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on, party president Nitin Gadkari lambasted it for failing to live up to the expectations of the people in Assam despite being in power for 11 years. He said that the wrong economic policies and corruption of the Congress government are simply responsible for the current state of affairs in Assam and the north east. Assam in the first state in the country where power generation has fallen over the years, he maintained. BJP has prepared 'vision documents' for development of Assam and the other north eastern states.
Unidentified miscreants shot dead by a businessman in Dhubri district on Sunday morning after he refused to pay the money they demanded earlier. The incident took place when the two miscreants entered the grocery shop owned by Jhumarmal Jain in the morning and demanded Rs 10 lakh in cash. When refused, they shot him from a point blank range and vanished from the spot. Jain was rushed to a local hospital, he was declared brought dead. Jain was badly hit by the bullets in his neck and chest. Police said locals apprehended one of the two miscreants who shot the businessman dead, while the other managed to escape.
A 17 member delegation from Assam visited Tripura for four days to study the secrets behind the consecutive success in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Sent the chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the team is headed by additional district collector of Morigaon district, Surendra Sharma.
Tripura retained the top position in the country in implementing the MGNREGS successfully third year in a row. In the last fiscal, Tripura offered 72.39 per cent man-days to the rural household.
The All Assam Students Union too criticised the government for remaining mute on the unprecedented power cuts in Assam. The student body said in a statement that it will conduct a survey of the difference in prices of essentials by visiting households in different areas of the state from May 14. Meanwhile, PowerGrid says that the power situation would improve marginally from Saturday midnight.
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