Skip to content Skip to navigation

Anti dam protest greets Jairam Ramesh in Guwahati

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.


Comments

Hayang's picture

--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.

Pages

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Two youths arrested in Guwahati with deadly weapons

21 Mar 2012 - 2:41pm | editor
Security forces have apprehended two youths during a sudden operation in Guwahati on Tuesday and seized the deadly weapons from their possession. Identified as Taj Ahmed and Hasanur Rahman from...

Jumbo electrocuted

12 Oct 2016 - 11:19am | Shajid Khan
A male jumbo was electrocuted in a paddy field at  Sagolijhar area, Panery of Nonai Forest Range of Udalguri district on Sunday night.  Dr. Sulab Sarma Vety. Assistant carried out the post-...

Nagaon celebrates Shardiya Mahotsava on Dandiya tunes

23 Sep 2009 - 10:08am | bishwajeetsinha
The Dushera is associated with both religious-social and cultural aspects of life! To celebrates its multi-colored faced Nagaon town witnessed the first of its kind on the tune of Dandiya the “...

Breather for BPL students

1 Jun 2015 - 5:05pm | Abdul Gani
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the state government would bear all educational expenses for the students belonging to BPL families under a new scheme to be launched soon. In a statement on...

Other Contents by Author

Assam Governor J B Patnaik and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday conveyed heartiest greetings to the people on the occasion of Durga Puja. In a statement the governor appealed to the people to maintain peace and spread the message of amity and unity in keeping with the true spirit of such festivals and tenets of every religious faith and order. The chief minister also appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm and hoped the festival would promote a bond of brotherhood among all sections of society.
The Gauhati High Court on Friday asked the Centre and the Assam governments to explain the system for identification, declaration and deportation of Bangladeshi immigrants from Assam. Taking up a writ petition filed by one Mohammad Ataur alias Ataur Rahman, who has been on detention for being a suspected illegal immigrant, Justice B K Sharma observed that the petitioner was in a detention camp for last two years but the respondent (government) had been unable to take any action to deport him to Bangladesh.
The Kaziranga National Park would open from Nov 1 for the tourists. According to KNP authorities, maintenance of roads and other infrastructure are going on inside the park. He said that the tourist would have to wait for a few days to visit the whole park as some low-lying areas are still under water.The UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Assam for domestic and foreign tourists, mainly due to the one-horned rhinos.According to government data, the park has been recording an increasing number of tourists every year.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has called upon the civil society to support the government in eliminating crime against women. Inauguration the ceremony of the new office of Assam State Commission for Women in Guwahati, he said that along with the government, the NGOs and other social organisation will have to take initiative to struggle for eradicating crimes committed against women. He said that steps were taken to increase reservation for women in panchayats of Assam to 50 per cent, from the current 33 per cent.
As a part of adolescent education programme and enhancement of life skills city based Hindustani Kendriya Vidyalaya had organised a day-long programme for its students on Friday at its conference hall. The session on life skills was moderated by Neeru Basumatary who has been working on life skills training. Ratna Singh, Principal of HKV moderated the other session who is also a trained person on life skills and conducted many training programmes in different parts of the country. Life skills have been one of the important skills which is focused by Central Board of Secondary Education for its students. Life skills help a teenager in coping with many things which help in their growth....
Amway India and Guwahati Traffic Police have joined hands together to announce a ‘Road safety awareness campaign’ for the festive season in Guwahati city on October 18, 2012. The objective of the initiative is to sensitize the denizens of the city about the importance of adherence to a slew of road safety rules and traffic signals in order to avoid accidents and secure long life. The awareness drive specially focuses on the students across schools and colleges of Guwahati with an objective of educating the youth on traffic rules for a better future. At a formal function at Guwahati Press Club, the Superintendent of Police, Traffic Guwahati, Bibekananda Das and Amway India...
Police recovered a decomposed body of a child in Tezpur on Thursday. The body suspected to be of a kidnapped boy, was recovered from a gunny bag near a pond at Chitralekha Nagar. A man who claimed to be the father said that his son was missing from Tezpur town since October 8. But the persons arrested in connection with the kidnapped case have claimed that the child is alive. The body would be sent for DNA test to confirm the identity of the child.
Kamrup district (metro) administration has chalked out a two-layer traffic arrangement for the ensuing Durga Puja in Guwahati.Police (Traffic) has imposed certain restrictions on the movement of vehicles from October 21 to October 24.The goods-carrying vehicles have been restricted from 1 pm to 4 am from Jalukbari, Garchuk, Lokhara, Beltola, Khanapara, Hatigaon and Chandmari side.Trucks will be allowed to enter the city from 4 am onwards up to 10 in the morning. The RP Road will be one way only from the Ganesh Mandir side. There will not be entry for vehicles coming from the Zoo Road side to Ganesh Mandir. Vehicles will move via Service Road, GS Road and Supermarket Point.
One more rhino was found dead in Kaziranga on Thursday. KNP officials called it a case of natural death. Its horn was recovered by the park authorities in Bagori range. In yet another incident, a tusker was found dead after it was trapped inside the dense jungle at Burhapahar range on Thursday.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday flagged off the BJYM’s rally organized to honour the Indo-Chino war heroes.In his address at the flag off function at Machkhowa, Gadkari said that the rally would be a source of inspiration for the youths. The rally left for Arunachal Pradesh and on Saturday the concluding function would take place at Bomla in Arunachal Pradesh.