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.
The rift within NCP stalwarts is widening. NCP general secretary P A Sangma on Friday said Congress should support Sharad Pawar for pruime ministership but in the same breath he said he said BJP is not untouchable. Addressing a press conference, the firmer Lok Sabha Speaker said Congress should "gracefully" support a Third Front government led by Sharad Pawar, a view his colleague Praful Patel did not find viable. Sangma said NCP is striving for a non-Congress and non-BJP government at the Centre to be headed by Sharad Pawar and that the Congress should gracefully support the candidature of Pawar as the next Prime Minister. According to him, the NCP units of North East and Jammu and...
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says the government would strictly deal with the law and order situation in the North Cachar even by deploying more security forces in the hills district. During his visit to the trouble torn district on Friday, the Chief Minister has reviewed law and order situation with top ranked civil and police officials in the hills district and announced that the trains would resume its services soon. He also visited Maibong and talked to the affected people and announced a Rs 3 lakh ex-gratia each to the family members of those left dead in the incidents.
Three persons were killed and at least 90 houses were set on fire in a fresh string of incidents in the North Cachar hills district on Monday.According to information, the incident took place in Guilung village in the afternoon. The village is inhibited by the Zemi Naga people where some unidentified miscreants opened fire at the villagers before setting on fire the houses. Three persons were killed in the incident and the deceased have yet to be identified.Army, police and other law enforcing agencies rushed troops to the spot but by then the fire gutted atleast 90 houses.The incident took place barely a day after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced an intensified joint operation against...
Violence still refuses to die down in North Cachar hills district and instead it is snowbaling into an ethnic frenzy. Two days after some unidentified miscreants set on fire a Dimasa village some other miscreants on Monday burnt down at least 14 houses at a remote village of Zemi Naga people named Guilung in the hills district.
These orgy of violence took place a day after Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi ordered joint operation by police, army and other law enforcing agencies to deal with the situation.
The London Bihu Committee (LBC), UK, held their annual Rongali Bihu celebration last Sunday, the 3rd May 2009. The event was held in a new location in Hornchurch, East London and the changeable British weather kindly held up for the occasion. The Committee deliberately chose a larger venue on the back of Rongali London Bihu 2008's staggering success. The Campion School is of Catholic denomination and the multicultural and inclusive nature of the British Assamese community could not be better summed up than celebrating the reaping of the Brahmaputra-induced harvest in front of Mother Mary herself. The hall itself was decorated with ample Xorais, japis gamosas and incongruously hung balloons...
A full fledged operation by police, army and other para military forces are on the cards in North Cachar hills in Assam. Irked by the law and order breakdown in the hills district, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has asked police and other law enforcing agencies to strictly deal with the situation in the district.According to information, Gogoi has instructed animal husbandry and veterinary minister Khor Singh Engti to rush to the trouble torn district to monitor the situation and to build confidence among the people. The Chief Minister has assured the family members of the those in the incidents of adequate compensation. Moreover, the government, he said, would rehabilitate those rendered...
Two persons died and 37 houses were set on fire in an interior village in North Cachar Hills district on Saturday a day after the miscreants torched 14 houses. According to information, the incident took place on Saturday in the morning when the members of a community came to the Phiding village and fired at random killing two persons on the spot.As the villagers ran in panic, the attackers set on fire at least 37 houses completely gutting them. Two local communities had been engaged in turf war in the area for the past few months.
Atleast 14 houses were set on fire by some unidentified miscreants in a remote village in North Cachar Hills district early in the morning on Friday. According to information, the miscreants went to Jorai village, about 9 km from the district headquarters of Haflong, and set on fire these houses belonging to a few poor families. Police and security personnel rushed to the spot but by then the miscreants fled from the scene. The police are trekking to the hilly area across several rivers to the village which has no road for easy accessibility.
Two hardcore ULFA rebels died at an encounter with the police and security forces near Sonari in Sivasagar on Thursday evening. According to information, the incident took place at at Benganabari village when a joint team of police and 871 Field Regiment jawans raided the house of Atul Bora.The rebels started indiscriminate firing at the joint team where the security force retaliated. Both the militants died on the spot. Two ultras however, managed to escape from the scene. One UMG, one AK-56 and huge live ammunition were recovered from them. The militants have yet to be identified.
Four persons including two children died 14 others were injured after the minibus carrying them rammed into a stationary truck at Puronigudam in central Assam's Nagaon district on Thursday morning. According to police, the minibus was carrying a wedding party.Nine of the injured were sent to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital, four to the Jakhalabandha Hospital and one to Nagaon B P Civil Hospital. The wedding party was coming from Koliabor to Sesamukh in the district, the sources said, adding, the bride and groom were safe as they were travelling in a different vehicle.
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