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.
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Four Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militants including a commander were gunned down and two policemen wounded critically in a fierce gun battle in the heart of Meghalaya capital...
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AASU vows to intensify protest against the fielding of Dr Sanjay Singh in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls calling it an insult to the Assamese.Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Wedenesday,...
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A parish in Assam’s Bongaigaon diocese with the help of a Guwahati based NGO has come up with a novel scheme to prevent high school children dropping out of school or flunking in their board...
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Suspected militants are believed to have killed an intelligence officer in Meghalaya sending sensation across the north eastern region on Friday. The needle of suspicion points towards ASAC who...
An inclement weather makes it all the more difficult for BSF and NDRF jawans to fish out bodies of the boat mishap victims in Dhubri on Tuesday.
The day long intensified operation in Medatori ghat and Lakhipur by and large failed to achieve notable success till the evening. But over 200 people are still missing and a section of local residents who came to see the mishap believe that those missing might have met watery grave.
On the other hand, a CCTV new crew led by bureau chief had a narrow escape from heavy storm on the river when they were covering the incident on Tuesday evening. BSF jawans later rescued them from the middle of the river.
The four member Central China...
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday has set up a one man panel to probe the Dhubri boat mishap on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in Dispur on Tuesday, Gogoi said that additional chief secretary Jitesh Khosla will probe the incident. He said that the one man commission would submit the report by the next thirty days.
Grief and anger reigned Dhubri a day after the district witnessed the country’s biggest ever boat tragedy that left over 250 dead.
Thousands of people thronged both sides of the river Brahmaputra in Dhubri and Goalpara districts to see the search operation by BSF and NDRF.
The personal belongings of the victims were seen floating on the river suggesting that over 250 people who could not swim out of the water were dead.
Local residents blamed private ferry operators for running the overloaded boat services flout the official norms.
They said the boat owners do it only to make money. The government figure of casualty is not correct since several bodies were rushed to their...
The Assam government has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs1.5 lakh each to the next of kin of those who died in the boat tragedy in Dhubri district on Monday. The announcement came from Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who has rushed ministers, medical teams to the spot. Assam Transport Minister Chandan Brahma rushed to the Fakirganj area on Tuesday and took stock of the situation.
Apart from this, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for next of kin of those killed in the boat mishap. Dr Singh, who is in constant touch with Assam Chief Minister, has assured Dispur of all help in the search operation.
Finally Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday allocated portfolios to his parliamentary secretaries. Gogoi keeps Mansingh Rangpi in finance giving home to Sarat Saikia.
Raju Sahu gets Labour and Employment employment while revenue affairs was given to Pradan Baruah. Bidya Singh Engleng was given planning and development. Public Health Engineering has gone to Chandan Sarkar while Jon Jonali Baruah gets Urban Development affairs. Monilal Gowala gets PWD and Sumitra Patir Social gets welfare department. Illias Ali gets irrigation while Maneswor Brahma was tourism department. Jiban Tara Ghatowar was given to health...
President Pratibha Patil and vice president Dr Hamid Ansari have expressed grief over the loss of life in the shocking boat incident on the Brahmaputra river on Monday where over 250 were feared to have met watery grave.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi to convey his condolences and assured the state government of all possible assistance in relief operations and also for assistance from the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund to the families of the deceased.
Rescue operations are going on the Brahmaputra riverbed to fish out the bodies a day after an overloaded ferry capsized in Dhubri at the height of a storm that lashed the district on Monday.
BSF and NDRF jawans are on an intensified search operation in the middle of the river where over 250 people are feared dead in the world’s one of the largest boat mishap that took place in Dhubri district on Monday. The search operation has been concentrated mainly on Lakhipur ghat in view of the strong current of the river waters.
According to information available with assasmtimes, over 100 bodies were fished out during the last 15 hours whole as many as 250 others are still missing...
The entire country stands bereaved when over 150 people were feard to have met watery grave on the river Brahmaputra in Dhubri on Monday. Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh called up chief minister Tarun Gogoi over telephone and condoled the death of the passengers when the ferry capsized on the river. Assam governor JB Patnike also expressed deep shock over the incident. An inclement weather makes it quite difficult for security forces to carry out search operation on the river Brahmaputra in Dhubri where atleast 150 people were feared dead when the ferry carryin over 200 people capsized on Monday.
Over 150 people died when a ferry carrying them capsized on the river Brahmaputra in Dhubri on Monday. The incident took place near the Buraburhi than when the ferry carrying 200 people was on its way to Jaleswar at around 6 in the evening.The ferry capsized at the height of the storm that lashed the district for an hour. Over 70 bodies were fished out. Operation is going on. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi has expressed shocked over the incident and rushed chief secretary to the spot.
ULFA’s anti-talk faction on Sunday comes down heavily on Arabinda Rajkhowa alleging that the chairman was trying to compromise the outfit’s original demand. The outfit asked Rajkhowa to leave the government’s favour. In a statement sent to media on Sunday, the outfit’s publicity leader Aronodoy Dohotia said that sovereignty and independence were not negotiable and that nobody has given Rajkhowa or any one to compromise it. The outfit has asked Rajkhowa to come back to the main body failing which they would fill up the post with constitutional process.
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