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.
24 May 2011 - 10:38pm | A Chakraborty
On the night of May 22, 19th Madras Regiment of Army arrested two persons as NDFB linkmen from Kamalajhar under Gauripur police station of Dhubri district. They are Abdul Sattar (30) and Abdul Munnaf...
10 Feb 2014 - 1:38pm | AT News
Thousands of KMSS activists hit the streets in Sivasagar on Monday alleging horse trading in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.Led by its president Akhil Gogoi, the protestors staged dharna in front of...
6 Jan 2014 - 6:15pm | Raktim Baruah
Pongyong Tekchai, a collection of articles, written by noted writer Rajiv Ahmed and published by Sampriti Prakashan, was released on Mondy at a function organised in Guwahati Press...
16 Aug 2014 - 4:04pm | AT News
In a major reshuffle in Assam BJP unit, Siddharth Bhattacharya is all set to replace Sarbananda Sonowal as the party’s state president. Bhattacharya received the message from party president Amrit...
Assam scripts yet another history on Sunday. Altogether 100 people on Sunday planted 40,885 saplings within an hour near the Chirang Reserve Forest to enter the Guinness World Records. Army’s Dogra Regiment and 135 Ecological Battalion jawans planted the saplings on the banks of the Saralbhanga river on Sunday from 11 in the morning to 12 noon. The entire rare event was video-graphed in full view of three independent observers. The footage would now be sent to Guinness World Records.
Security forces recovered a powerful improvised explosive device during a joint operation from Rangiya in in Kamrup Rural district on Sunday.
Weighing around five kg, the IED was recovered among bamboo groves behind a house at Titkuri village following a tip-off. Police called it a handiwork of ULFA’s anti-talk faction. Later, the IED has been taken to the nearby army camp at Sansari for safe disposal.
More explosive revelations on the militants activities in Guwahati surfaced on Sunday a day after security forces apprehended four GNLA militants on their way from Dimapur to Goalpara. GNLA, along with a section of Manipur-based insurgent activists have been hiding in the city preparing blueprint to carry out a string of subversive activities in the entire region.
The startling revelations have come out in their confessional statements. Security forces apprehended four hardcore GNLA militants during a joint operation in Gorchuk on Saturday. Two sophisticated weapons and some ammunitions were also seized from their possession. Security forces intercepted a vehicle in Guwahati en route to...
North Eastern Frontier Railway on Saturday announced a special train from Dibrugarh in to Yesvantpur to ferry the students of the north eastern region and north Bengal to appear for medical and engineering entrance tests in Bangalore.
According to NF Railway, the special train will ply on May 1 and it will leave Yesvantpur on May 4. The return 02509 special train will leave on May 7 and reach Dibrugarh on May 10. Every year thousands of students from the region aspiring for medical and engineering careers go to Bangalore for appearing joint entrance tests.
The Tea Board would select four small tea growers from Sonitpur district this year for a tour to Kenya for undergoing training there.The announcement was made by Tea Board chairman MGVK Bhanu who was attending the small tea growers convention in Tezpur on Saturday.He also attended technical session on various aspects of leaf handling and transportation, plucking and tipping, pruning and young tea upbringing, etc by experts from AAU, TRA and Tea Board. Self Help Groups of Dibrugarh, Nagaon, Dhekiajuli also shared their experiences in the interactive session.Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi distributed financial assistance to the Scheduled Caste small tea growers under Board’s special scheme...
Union Minister for DoNER, Paban Singh Ghatowar exhorted upon the small tea growers to maintain quality of their produce to get minimum remunerative price.
Ghatowar said the need of the hour for the small tea growers is to organise themselves to become a force to be reckoned with. He requested the Tea Board to provide fertilisers, transport and other incentives at subsidised rates for the benefit of the small tea growers. Ghatowar further requested the State Government to regularise the land patta of the small tea growers to allay the apprehensions from their minds. Ghatowar while urging the Tea Board to set up a welfare fund for the labourers working in the small tea gardens, asked the...
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi urged the small tea growers to ensure quality to get a better remunerative price and to face the stiff competition from big tea industries. Opening a Convention cum Workshop for Small Tea Growers at Tezpur Central University on Saturday, Gogoi underscored the need for the small tea growers not to compromise with quality to get a better price for their produce. The Chief Minister emphasised on the need for adopting latest technology for better yield.
He thanked Tea Board Chairman MGVK Bhanu for taking up a slew of initiatives, hoped that the Board would continue to extend support and cooperation to the small tea growers and make them economically vibrant and...
Two people died and two others were injured in a road mishaps in Jorhat district on Friday night.A woman was killed while her husband and two kids were injured in an accident at Panisoku near Pulibor in Jorhat district on Friday night. The incident took place at NH-37, when a Tata Indica car, in which the family was travelling, was hit by a trailer truck. The deceased woman was identified as Pompy Borthakur. The injured were rushed to Jorhat Medical College Hospital in critical condition.
Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has been elected as AGP president after the founder president defeated his rival Padma Hazarika by a margin of 37 votes in the party’s first-ever battle of ballots on Thursday.
Mahanta, the two time chief minister said that he would try his best to give the party a fresh lease of life.
On the other hand, Atul Bora defeated Kumar Deepak Das to be elected at the end of the neck and neck fight for working president.
The voting which began at 9 in the morning and concluded at 3 in the afternoon. The results formally announced at 5 in the evening.
Notably, for the first time the regional party held polls to elect its president and...
Cipla Limited in association with Guwahati Press Club has organized an Asthma Check-up camp at Guwahati Press Club on May 1 (Tuesday) commemorating the World Asthma Day. The media persons with their family members can attend the camp which will start at 10.30 am (and continue till 2.30 pm).
The camp is designed to address the Lung Function Test by every participant which will record his/her particular physical stays. Dr Swapnab Borthakur from Down Town Hospital will conduct the check-up, informed MN Dutta, territory manager of Cipla Ltd.
Member-journalists are requested to attend the check-up camp.
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