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 season for exhibitions begins at NEDFi-Haat with the inauguration of the annual week-long “North East Handloom & Handicraft Fair 2008” on August 21. The exhibition was inaugurated by Gyanpeeth Awardees Dr. Mamoni Roysom Goswami. The handloom and handicraft products from all the N.E. states including Sikkim are opened up for the city dwellers. The products range from the Pat-Muga items from Assam, Dry Flowers from Manipur, fine crafted artifacts from Nagaland, handloom of Arunachal Pradesh, Handmade paper items from Sikkim etc. which will be some major attractions for the collectors who appreciate products with ethnic identity. On the same occasion valedictory session was...
I travelled to Orissa a few months back and saw the huge acres of forest land lying vacant. These are preserved under forest belt and natural resources of the State. In the tourism booklets, the Assamese boast themselves of being nature lovers and so on and so forth. But the reality is that today not an inch of land is left free in Assam. Just travel along the highway. People have settled right on the road-side, a phenomenon I have not seen anywhere else. Starting from Dhuburi to Sadiya, Nagaon to Silchar, all the roadside is strewn with shops and houses haphazardly. Open pastures and forest land has become a thing of the past. Everywhere there is construction. What will happen to our...
The main Opposition Asom Gana Parishad will sit in strike demanding steps to seal the Indo-Bangla border and an updated national register of citizens. Disclosing this, party president Bindabon Goswami said the party will sit in strike from 7 in the morning on August 21. They will further send a memorandum to the president of India on that day. “We will sit in strike from 7 in the morning on August 21 and it will be concluded at 5 in the afternoon. We will send a memorandum to the President of India,” said Goswami.
Tension still runs at Rowta in Udalguri district of lower Assam two days after the sporadic incidents of violence that left one dead and twenty others injured. More than 3000 people mostly Bodos are camping at the school and college buildings in Udalguri who have left home fearing attack on Wednesday.According to information, the situation is under control but the BTAD administration is asking for more police forces to deal with the situation firmly.Notably, the clash took place on Wednesday during a 12 hour Assam bandh call by a Muslim organisation when some supporters were trying to forcibly close some shops in the area. One Ajit Rabha who was injured in the clash died on Thursday.
Two blasts have cracked Bongaigaon town in lower Assam on Saturday morning a day after the Independence Day on Friday. According to information, the first one took place at around 8-15 in the morning near a police checking point at Swahidbedi. No casualty has been reported as there was no police when it took place. This was followed by the second one five minute after it which exploded at Pagalathan at around 8-20 in the morning. Details awaited. Top ranked police and civil officials have rushed to the spot. Notably, three blasts have rocked lower Assam districts of Chirang and Dhubri on Friday before the unfurling of the national tricolour. Police say these a handiwork of ULFA where two...
Tension grips Orang area of Udalguri district on Saturday when some miscreants killed a Muslim youth in Gelabeel in the morning at around 10. According to information, the incident took place when some miscreants halted a bus which was on its way from Mangladoi to Udalguri and took out a Muslim youth and then killed in full view of the people.
As many as ten people including a police man were injured when a tear gas shell exploded in Chaygaon when police tried to disperse a group of people when they were on the way to block the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport on Friday.According to information, the incident took place in the morning when these people led by a non tribal forum were taking out a procession to the airport demanding steps to resolve their problems. As they reached in front of the Chaygaon police station, policemen tried to stop them. But by accident, the tear gas shell let off leaving several people including a police man injured.
A 12-hour down-to-dusk Nagaon bandh has been by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in protest against the violence acts during the Assam Bandh called by All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU). AAMSU called Assam Bandh on 12 August.
Guwahatians on Friday came out into the open to hoist the National Tricolour in various localities dotting the city and sent a clear message to the militants that no amount of threat can deter them from celebrating the country's Independence Day.Journalists, joined by other enthusiastic citizens, observed the day in the premises of Guwahati Press Club, where the highlight was a call by veteran journalist Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty to spread this message of defiance to every nook and corner of Assam. Hoisting the National Flag, Chakraborty presented a brief outline of the country's heroic struggle for freedom where thousands had sacrificed their lives and laid the edifice of a modern and...
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says his government will not remain a mute spectator if some parties, organizations and individuals take laws into their own hands to detect and deport the illegal Bangladeshi migrants.Unfurling the national tricolour at the Latashil Playground in the city on Friday morning, the Chief Minister said some vested interested circles have been trying to stymie the process for resolving the illegal Bangladeshi problem. According to him, it was the duty of his government to ensure that not even a single indigenous Indian citizen is not harassed in the name of detecting and deporting the immigrants.Gogoi said the government has set up a coordination committees...
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