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.
Four person died, 15 others sustained injury as a bus was falling into a deep gorge in Kokrajhar on Wednesday. According to information, the incident took place at around 1 in the afternoon when the Dhubri bound Bus bearing No AS-16-0714 was falling into a deep gorge near a new RCC bridge at Narabari-Daokibari road under Kokrajhar Police station.Eyewitnesses here say, the bus carried overload passengers and approached the newly constructed bridge while it slipped into mud.Local residents of the area and police rushed to the spot and rushed the injured persons to the Rup Nath Brahma civil hospital in Kokrajhar.
One person died and atleast sixteen others injured when ULFA made powerful blast at Lalganesh area in Guwahati on Tuesday.According to information, the incident took place at around 5-30 in the afternoon near Shankar Hotel and the bomb was planted at a motorcycle which exploded to leave one dead and ten others injured. The injured were shifted to the Guwahati medical College Hospital.The blast rocked the area an hour before Union minister Pranab Mukherjee was to attend a function in the evening. Minutes after the incident, top ranked police and civil officials rushed to the spot and investigation is on. Some of the injured persons have been identified as Narayan Dutta, Bubu Gogoi, Raju Bora...
.Continuing the war of words, Congress has ridiculed the Asom Gana Parishad saying it had sold its regionalism to the BJP. Addressing the reporters, Congress spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma said after its seat-sharing understanding with BJP, the AGP has surrendered its regionalism to BJP and that during the last assembly poll the AGP manifesto was based on core regionalism. In their earlier manifesto the AGP had said the people were their high command and that they had no bosses. He further said the AGP had earlier focused on price rise, but this time is silent on it. The health minister also said the AGP was critical of all other parties save the minority-dominated AUDF.
Over 50 rebels alid down thier arms before the Army in upper Assam's Tinsukia district on Tuesday. According to information, of these 44 rebels beloning to ULFA while other from NSCN and ANLA.The ULFA had four were rebels who surrendered on Tuesday before the GOC of 2nd Mountain division Maj Gen B S Sachar in the presence of Tinsukia superintendent of police Diganta Bora.Additional deputy commissioners of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh Vivekananda Phukan and Akashdeep were also present at the brief function. They further deposited a huge cache of arms and ammunition which include 44 pistols, five guns, one machine gun and huge quantities of assorted ammunition.In his address, Maj Gen Sachar...
An education institute is a place for nurturing the future of a society. Being one of the prominent institutes of the nation, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) has been working towards this goal in several ways. The students of IITG have been involved in various efforts like zero illiteracy zone campaign,distribution of used clothes,blood donation camps, visit to orphanages in Guwahati city , popularization of Gandhian philosophy,efforts towards e-governance ,mentoring of students from Kendiya Vidyalaya (KV), IIT Guwahati etc. to contribute towards the societal development of the nation in general and of the region in particular. "The zero illiteracy campaign was started in...
A day after Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi accused AGP and BJP of fielding chargesheeted candidate in the polls, he has dared both the parties to proof that he received Rs 21 crore from Kolkata tea lobby. He further threatened to file a defamation suit against AGP and BJP.In yet another development, the regional party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission alleging violation of model code of conduct. Talking to reporters, party general secretary Atul Bora said,"Gogoi has violated model code forcing us to lodge a complaint with EC against him."Both the parties have alleged that Congress has issued job cards to some persons who have not actually worked with NREGA.
The grassroot level AGP workers are not comfortable in the poll alliance with BJP. This was on display as the party was holding its general House meeting in Guwahati on Sunday.Several leaders in the district told Assam times, that they are leery of success in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in view of uncomfortable reputation of BJP in many places.The meeting was convened to make the grass root leaders prepared to face the pre poll situation.The meeting adopted a set of resolution stressing infiltration, unemployment, flood problems et al.Sources said the party convened the meting fearing that the grassroot activists might not cooperate during the campaigning process.
Assam's noted astrologer Amal Das, popularly known as Kero Young was arrested on Sunday by police four days after income tax officials conducted a raid at his residence and business establishments in Guwahati.According to information, the astrologer was absconding following his implications in tax evasion cases.Moreover, he was implicated under a few stringent wildlife Acts after the skins and bones of wild animals were recovered by forest officials from his business establishments during the income tax raid before it was sealed.
Several organizations staged a sit-in demonstration in Kaziranga demanding action against Jiten Gogoi and Kushal Duori for the recent incident of attack on forest officials of the Kaziranga National Park.The leaders of these NGOs in strike alleged government silence despite a week has passed after police registered against the militant turned political leaders charging them with assaulting the forest officials at Konhora on March 17.These NOGs include Aaranyak, EcoSystems-India, WWF-India, Dolphin Foundation, Early Birds.Notably, two FIRs were lodged at the Bokakhat Police Station in Golaghat against the MLA duo under Case No. 42/91 Under Sections 147, 148, 149, 447, 353 and 427 Indian...
An International seminar on the "Tai and other ethnic of North-east India" was organised by Purbanchal Tai Sahitya Sabha ( Eastern Tai Literary Association, Ban Ok Pup Lik Mung-Tai) with collaboration of Centre for Tai,Tribal Land and North Eastern India Studies,Dhemaji, Assam which was held at Silpagram, North-Easter Cultural Centre, Panjabari, Guwahati , Assam on 26th, 27th and 28th March,2009.The seminar was inaugurated by Prof. Taburam Taid. A Reserach Journal "The Tai" was published .Chao Kiran Kumar Gogoi,Prof. Chatthip Nartsupha ( Thailand), Mrs. Sanya Nartsupha (Thailand) Prof. Annadacharan Bhagawati, Prof. Sachindra Kumar Borthakur, Prof. Sampong Witayasakpan (...
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