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.
6 Sep 2012 - 8:08pm | editor
Dr JK Bajaj, director of Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai will attend the Guest of the Month programme of Guwahati Press Club on September 11. The programme will begin at 12 noon. A research...
25 Dec 2008 - 12:11am | editor
The government has extended its ceasefire with Dima Halom Daogah for yet another year. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of DHD representatives led by Dilip Nunisa with Central and...
4 Jul 2018 - 9:46pm | AT New Delhi
NEW DELHI:In an effort to quell any law and order problem ahead of the publication of final draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) the state government on Wednesday has sought more central...
14 Nov 2015 - 5:55pm | Dibya J Borthakur
A group of 30 youths of Bikers’ Association , Raha on Saturday on the occassion of children day , set off on a bike rally to promote gender equality and spread the message of saving the girl...
Three peope have been injured while a powerful blast rocked a vegetable market in Nalbari. The explosion took place at 6in the evening. The injure peopes have been rushed to the hospital. They are Nalini Kalita, Rabindra Sarma and Biswajit Debnath. On the other hand, two hardcore ULFA cadres died at an encounter with army at the Dibru Saikhowa sanctuary. The encounter reportedly going on and the army jawans are cordoning off the entire area.
The Union home ministry has sent a slew of instructions for the north eastern states to deal with any situation during the Republic Day celebrations in the region. These instructions ask the state governments to take extra precautionary measures in view of Republic Day boycott call by United Liberation Front of Asom and three others. According to information, these have necessary following the Home Ministry’s intelligence report that Pakistan-based militant groups like Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed could strike in the region.
Kaziranga National Park, one of the world’s heritage site of late, is buying a bad name - safe haven of poachers, who have killed 21 one horn rhinos within a period of 13 months. The abode of 1855 one horn rhinos, 86 leopards, 1431 wild buffalos,1246 elephants, several thousand deer, and over 500 species of colourful birds is facing a serious threat of extinction if this continues. Covering an areas of 860 square km, the park is riddled with inadequate arms to face the poachers, fund crunch to uplift it and lack of adequate workers besides the government’s lackadaisical attitude. There are altogether 68 forest workers aged in between 51 to 60. What is more shocking is that one 9...
With less than 24 hours left for the Republic Day, security has been beefed up across the state to ensure peace and normalcy during the day. Besides intensifying patrolling on the streets, police and para military troops have been deployed at the vital bridges, railway stations along with oil and gas installations apprehending militant strikes. The Army jawans are monitoring the situation with helicopters in the city and its adjoining areas. Mean while, the Kokrajhar police have recovered a black polythithene bag which suspected to have contained some explosive materials in front of the Loknath Brahma Hospital at around 5-50 in the morning. The bag has been sent to the Army for confirmation.
The Bongaigaon police have recovered some explosive materials inside a bag from a bus which was on its way to Bongaigaon from Barpeta in the morning.According to information, the bag was recovered from the bus bearing No AMB 2081 during a routine check at the Chapaguri Road at around 10-35 in the morning on Friday. The bag was taken away to a safer place. Later police said the bag contained some detonators, 200 gelatin sticks, some clothes and medicines. The driver and his assistant have been detained in the Bongaigaon Police Station. Interrogation is going on, said police adding that it was placed by some ULFA activist. During interrogation, the driver and his assistant reportedly said...
Despite drizzling in January Coldwave, around seventy five per cent voters exercised their franchise in the fourth and final phase of panchayat polling in Darrang district on Thursday. The polling was by and large [eaceful.Hundreds of voters were seen making long queue in front of the polling booths till the end of the voting. This could not force the voters in Darrang to stay inside the houses. They lined up in front of the polling booths from seven in the morning to decide on the fate of altogether 3659 candidates. Voting was delayed in some booths forcing the voters to stay in line for more time. This time, the voters preferred the candidate to the party. Even a section of voters had...
NABARD has planned to invest a total Rs 2224.63 crore for 2008-2009 in Assam. Addressing a seminar held on Thursday at the Assam Administrative Staff College, the banks’s chief general manager C K Gopalakrishna said of this amount, the potential assessed for agriculture is Rs 886.38 crore , Rs 441.05 crore for industries while Rs 897.19 crore is being kept for services. He said in view of the thrust on agriculture and food processing industries, a credit potential of Rs 35.23 crore has been estimated for the year. Noted economist Dr Jayanta Madhab inaugurated the seminar which was attended by several senior bank officials.
The Black Widow has killed one Amri Rupsi in Haflong on Thursday morning alleging him to be a police informer. According to information, the publicity secretary of the outfit Phaisang Dimasa came to Rupsi at around 7 in the morning and took him away to the street and shot dead from a close range saying him to be a police informer. It was too late for the police to arrive in the spot. Investigation is going on.
Amid tight security, Assam is going to the fourth and final phase of the panchayat elections in Darrang district from in the morning on Thursday. The polling is going on at 728 voting centers in the district. As many as 4,50,000 voters are voting for 3659 candidates. The voting will end at 4.00 pm. Around 70 per cent of the voters had exercised their franchise in the first phase of the polls on December 31, while around 72 per cent cast their votes in the second phase on January 4. An estimated 74 per cent of the electorate had exercised their franchise in the third phase of polling on January 9.
Thirty-eight ULFA cadres, including a woman cadre, laid down their arms before the army in Tamulpur in Baksa district on Thursday morning. The group was by Nayan Kakoti who surrendered before the GOC 4 Corps Lt Gen B S Jamwal at 21 Mountain Brigade Headquarters of Red Horn Division. They further submitted a huge cache of arms and ammunition including 27 pistols, 18 grenades, 22 detonators, 30 kgs of explosives and 150 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition.Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Jamwal said the army was trying to bring back misguided youths to the mainstream adding that insurgency cannot bring any solution. He further informed that some top cadres will be surrendering soon. Assam...
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