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.
1 Jun 2008 - 11:58pm | editor
ULFa has killed a gaonburah in lower Assam’s Udalguri disitrct on Sunday afternoon.. According to information, the goanburah of Dolongghat Khagendranath Deka was shot dead at Bhakatgaon by two...
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The 17th death anniversary of late chief minister Karmashree Hiteshwar Saikia was observed at Nazira on Monday. On this occation, people paid floral tribute to their belovated leader in his Somadhi...
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Mother Teresa was born as Agnes Bojahiu on 26th August 1910 in Skoplje, Albania will be canonize as Sainthood in Rome on 4th September. She was recognized all over the world as “Mother Teresa of...
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The stage is all set for by polls in Silchar along with Jamunamukh and Lakhipur. Amid tight security, poll officials are leaving for their assigned booths with electronic voting machines on Friday...
Amid chaos and confusion, the Assam government on Friday put the official toll in Monday's ferry capsize in Brahmaputra river here at 35 and said 42 passengers were reported missing.Dhubri Deputy Commissioner Kumud Chandra Kalita formally released the list of dead and missing people in the tragedy at Medartary ghat. Among the dead are 11 children and 12 women. In the list of those registered missing there are 14 children and 12 women. He said that two more bodies were fished out today, one each by locals and the BSF. Search operations are on. Official sources had put the number of dead on the day of the mishap at 103. Nine bodies were fished out by divers till now. The unofficial figure of...
Robust Network, Dimapur in collaboration with The Indian Council For Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, successfully organised a grand Cultural Show titled Horizon Series Cultural Programme to commemorate the 8th Bamhum Day with performances by various artistes on May 3 from 6.30 pm at Soul Speak Studios Hall, Nuton Bosti, Dimapur. The first artiste to perform was Achen Imchen, a top six finalist of the 1st Naga Idol performed two of his indigenous songs who also played the Bamhum during the solo breaks.
The next to go onstage was Abiogenesis, a band empanelled by Indian Council For Cultural Relations (ICCR) and has been sent by ICCR to Myanmar...
At least 7 people died when devastating storm lashed Dhubri and Barpeta on Friday. The storm lashed Dhubri district in the wee hours leaving six people dead in the worst-hit area of Fakiraganj where atleast 20 villages were ravaged. There is report of storm that lashed Barpeta district. The storm that lasted for an hour left hundreds of houses collapsed in Bajali and Pathsala. Surface communicationhas been left he
Thirteen more bodies boat mishap victims have been fished out of the river Brahmaputra on Thursday. Of the bodies, 12 were found during the day and on Wednesday night.
The bodies were found at Mundiya and Jogomaya downstream in the Brahmaputra river from Medartary ghat where the double-decker ferry capsized.
Dhubri district administration and its counterpart in Kurigram, Dahikhawa and Yatrapur districts of Bangladesh would concentrate on some major points of the river where bodies could be washed ashore in view of the strong current of the Brahmaputra.
BGB and Kurigram district officials said that so far not a single body has been recovered from their side. People in Kurigram district...
Bangladesh will help India fish out the bodies of the boat mishap victims on the river Brahmaputra three days after an overloaded boat sank in Dhubri. The assurance during a flag meeting between BSF and BGB in Dhubri on Thursday. Dhubri KC Kalita who attended the meeting asked for help and cooperation from the Bangladesh side in retrieving bodies that may have been washed downstream.
The flag meeting took place at Sonarhat along the Indo-Bangla border between the Border Security Force and the Border Guards Bangladesh in which senior district and police officers from Dhubri and Kurigram district of Bangladesh participated.
Both sides jointly identified two villages in Kurigram...
The Bombay high court has warned Bhidan Barua that he cannot use pressure tactics and threaten to commit suicide unless his petition was heard and orders passed immediately. The court summoned the counsel of the 21-year-old student from Guwahati, Ejaz Naqvi after the student wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court and other authorities threatening to commit suicide if his petition was not heard immediately.
In the petition, Bhidan, who feels he is a woman trapped in man's body, has urged the court to restrain his parents from prohibiting him to undergo sex change operation.
Following the summons from the court, Naqvi appeared before Justices SJ Vazifdar and AR...
A conglomeration of around 45 Bodo organizations calls a 36-hour state-wide strike has been called from May 7 to intensify the demand for a separate Bodoland.
According to the leaders, forty-five groups representing tribal and non-tribal communities have joined the movement.
They said that with so many communities joining them, the Bodoland demand has become one of masses in Bodo dominated areas.
The PJACBM has called for a 36-hour strike on May 7. On May 18, there will be district demonstrations. On May 25 national highways will be blocked for 12 hours.
Local residents at Medartary in Dhubri fished out five more bodies out of the river Brahmaputra on Thursday morning three days after an overloaded boat sank in the river. However, BSF and NDRF jawans are continuing search operation on the river.
The three bodies were recovered from Jogomaya area which is some distance downstream from the mishap site of Medartary ghat.
The death toll is likely to climb as the chances of finding anybody alive are very remote after 65 hours of the boat tragedy took place.
The ferry, which operated without a licence, was carrying more than 350 persons, including a large number of women and children.
An Assam government official was killed after he was kidnapped by unidentified miscreants from Bongaigaon district on Thursday night.
The incident took place when armed miscreant took away Gadapani Pathak and Faijul Islam from Boitamari after halting their Bolero car on Wednesday night.
The miscreants left the driver after severally assaulting him. The injured driver Nur Islam was rushed to local hospital. After the abduction case, police had launched a search operation to trace the abducted persons.
Local people found a body near Boitamari and later he was identified as Gadapani Pathak. They came to recover the body hours after the vehicle was found. Search is on for Faizul Islam...
Senior Border Security Force officials discussed recovery and repatriation of the boat mishap victims that took place in Dhubri on Monday.
BSF official held the flag meeting along the Indo-Bangladesh border on Thursday where BSF was assured full support from the BDG. Notably, several bodies were learnt to have been spotted on the river Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Senior Assam government officials also attended the flag meeting. They included Dhubri Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Dhubri and their counterparts of Bangladesh.
The Centre has been in touch with the Bangladesh government to recover bodies of victims of the Brahmaputra boat tragedy that may have been...
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