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.
Police claimed to have averted a major string of strikes by ULFA on the eve of the Independence Day after recovering around seven bombs from Guwahati on Friday.
According to information, six powerful bombs have been recovered from a hill near Basistha bordering Meghalaya at around 10 in the morning during a joint operation by police and army.
before that a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from Sadiya which were believed to have been kept ready to explode during the Independence Day celebrations. Investigations are in progress.
There isa no let up in the over all flood situation in Assam where surface communication still remains disrupted in the worst hit Lakhimpur and Dhemaji district. The situation took a grim turn on Thursday when the floodwater breached National Highway 52 at three places and the rail line at two places after the incessant rain for the past few days. The district administration, however, is on a drive to evacuated the affected people to safer places. More than 100 villages in Dhemaji were inundated while in Lakhimpur district, the Kakoi river burst its banks at three places, affecting ten villages.
A National Disaster Response Force contingent was assisting the administration in evacuation...
There is more disturbing news. An ULFA team is at work in Guwahati to strike in the city during the Independence Day salted dor Saturday. This has forced police to gear up to dela with this hardcore team of women ULFA cadres. What is more disturbing is that the women cadres are bomb experts who are joined by their counterparts in NDFB. These cadres have managed to sneak in to the city a few days back.
According to police sources, the city is put on alert in view of these disquitening inputs that the insurgent outfits are desperately trying to foment trouble in Guwahati. Notably, ULFA along with four other rebels outfits operating in the north eastern regional have called for a boycott of...
Influenza A ( H1N1) has become a matter of concern in our country, where over 15 people had already died. The WHO has cautioned that the number of cases will be rising in the coming days. Now it is already a near panic situation in the country. Though Assam has not reported any confirmed cases till date, Meghalaya, West Bengal and also Bhutan reported confirmed H1N1 cases. As it can be expected that thousands of people from Assam would move to other parts of the country (or vice versa), the vulnerability of the State remains high. The media, print as well as the visual and web, has to play a very important role in a dressing this issue. There is a need to provide scientific , un-biased and...
Heavy precipitation in the upper reaches of Subansiri River basin and Jiadhal river basin for the last 24 hours has triggered flood emergency in Dhemaji and Bordoloni Block of Dhemaji District. Jiadhal River Basin: Breached on the embankment on Jiadhal at Nepali Pathar and Adarsha Gaon point at the wee hours of 13th August 2009 has severely affected numbers of villages of Dhemaji Development block. The report received at 9.00 a.m. from the field reflects that the following Panchayats are severely affected- (1) Samarajan (2) Naruathan (3) Ghughuha (4) Ajuha (5) Batgharia. Report has received that the flood water has hit the Ghilamora Block of Lakhimpur District.
Na-Nadi River basin:...
We hereby appeal to the people of Assam and Northeast India to celebrate the Independence Day on 15th August to pay tributes to the patriots and martyrs who suffered and sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the Nation. It is observed that a section of separatist elements in the region have made it a habit to impose a ban on the celebration of both the Independence Day and Republic Day (of India). We must not forget that the immense sacrifice of those martyrs of Northeast who laid down their lives in the Freedom Movement. Because of their supreme sacrifice we are an independent Nation today and we have the moral duty and responsibility to pay tributes to the martyrs and salute the...
The Assam government is taking a slew of measures to battle with the killer swine flu which has already taken a toll of 17. Addressing press conference, Assam health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said 100 doctors are undergoing a two day special training in Guwahati to offer efficient treatment. He said these doctors would be dispatched in various places. Separate isolation wards would be set up one each in the three medical college hospitals in Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Silchar by Thursday, he said adding that these isolation wards would be available in Jorhat, nagaon, Tezpur, and Kokrakjar.
Assam powerful students’organisation Assam Students Union will sit in hunger strike on August 14 and 15 in protest against the failure of the government to implement the Assam Accord.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati in Wednesday, AASU leaders said only this will over the years, the government has been failing to deal with influx of Bangladeshi immigrants, border problem, along with some other burning issues. AASU general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi have been failing to do the needful.
A group of ULFA cadres is waiting along the Assam- Nagaland border to monger trouble in upper Assam in the run up to the Independence Day. These are what the inputs available with the intelligence agencies forcing the authorities to go for a beefed up security measures in these areas.
According to information, a group of militants had entered Nagaland from Myanmar and were trying to enter Assam to cause disturbances ahead of the Independence Day.
The police has also received information that two ULFA militants Rupantor Kakoty and Niren Sarma who entered Sonari from Mon district in Nagaland have also brought three Improvised Explosive Device (IED) with them.
Meanwhile, Security has...
A 'Long March' by hundreds of Bangladeshis protesting the Tipaimukh dam project at the trijunction of Assam-Manipur-Mizoram has forced the authorities to put BSF on alert. According to information, BSF have been put on alert as 12,000 agitators from Bangladesh advanced towards the country's borders. The 'Long March' was kicked off in Dhaka on Saturday. The marchers are heading to Sylhet, 272 km northeast of Dhaka, where they would reach on Tuesday and then proceed to the Indian border. Sylhet district borders Assam and Meghalaya.
Comments
Pages
Add new comment