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.
13 Feb 2012 - 12:34am | editor
A woman committed suicide by coming under a speeding train in Halmira area of Golaghat today morning. The woman, identified as Forida Begum (55), a resident of Halmira, was ran over by a train near...
20 Nov 2014 - 6:50am | AT News
President Pranab Mukherjee is on a two days visit to the North East. Mukherjee landed at the Tezpur airport in the afternoon and straightly left fot Tezpur Central University where he attended...
5 Aug 2008 - 4:35pm | editor
The recently detected illegal Bangladeshi national Kammaluddin has been deported to his country on Monday. This was followed by the arrest of ten more illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators on Tuesday at...
29 Sep 2010 - 1:35pm | editor
PCG member Mukul Mahanta charges ULFA Chief Arabind Rajkhowa of accepting a huge amount of money as bribe from the government to start the peace talk.Talking to a private satellite news channel on...
Amid an elaborate security arrangement 42 lakh voters are voting on Wednesday in the third phase of panchayat polls. the polling began in the morning to end at 5 in the evening. Asa many as 38,000 candidates are in the fray in this phase. The poll-share slated for 141 zila parishad constituencies, 741 anchalik panchayat members, 741 Gaon panchayat presidents and 7410 gaon panchayat members.
On the eve of the third phase of panchayat poll, Gauripur legislator andan associate of the ruling Congress and two others have been seriously injury while they were beaten up by the local people on Tuesday wee hours for distributing blankets after the end of poll campaign.According to information, the MLA Mohibol Haque was distributing blankets at a secret poll meeting on Monday midnight in Gauripur. Local people rushed to the spot and mired in altercation. Mr Haque fled from the spot but the people of the area followed him an assaulted him. His security personnels opened fire but fell injured.Later Gauripur police came and rescued the MLA and rushed to the Guwahati medical College...
The Assam Government is drafting a proposal to ban three more outfits operating in the state. According to information, Dispur seeks ban on All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), Dima Halam Daoga (Jewel) and the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF).The government has hoped that it will boost the anti-insurgency operations in the state.
The struggle against poverty must be linked with the ongoing struggles for land rights, restoring dignity to human life, and against the value system which makes most under-represented communities vulnerable to undue exploitation, is the essence of the documentary film 'The Padyatra' ('Padyatra' means a foot-march).Making of the documentary 'The Padyatra' was an attempt to educate the masses about their human rights and constitutional safeguards meant for them, said senior social activist and film-maker of 'The Padyatra' Mr Vidya Bhushan Rawat. Rawat has made several documentaries and authored many books on issues around human rights, dalits, women and minorities."Democracy can only...
Veteran Assamese film producer, director, three-time National Award winner Siva Prasad Thakur passed away at Guwahati on 05-01-08 at an age of 71. He died after brief illness. Thakur directed films as well as documentaries in Assamese. Some of his famous films are 'Bowaari', 'Son Moina', 'Asaanta Prahaar' and 'Aheer Bhoirab'. Pix by UB Photos.
The flow of picnic parties to the soil conservation premises at Kahara, Karbi Anglong district on January 1 was less in comparison to its previous years. Only 137 parties came to this attractive spot for picnic this year. The Karbi Anglong forest department earned Rs. 7,040100 while on the otherhand it had earned Rs 18, 260.00 from 246 picnic parties in January 1, 2007, and Rs. 1,37,000.00 for the whole year.KOUSHIK HAZARIKA
A two-day media workshop for mid career journalists has begun at Guwahati Press Club today. Organized by the School of Journalism, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (USA) in association with GPC, the workshop is aimed at strengthening media professionalism and the NGO-media interface in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for HIV/AIDS coverage. The workshop witnesses participation of journalists and the Non-Governmental Organizations workers. The first session of the workshop was addressed by Dr SI Ahmed, chairman of AIDS Prevention Society, who highlighted the convincing role of media in fighting against the HIV-AIDS menace around the globe. The programme is led by two American faculty...
The lady is a social worker with a unique talent. She renders melodious songs in Assamese, Bangali and other languages in different places in order to collect donations for 'Thalassaemia patients'. The name of the lady is Sarbani Mazumdar. She is the wife of Bhibas Mazumdar, a resident of Kandi in the district of Murshidabad in West Bengal. She visited Raha on December 26 last and sang a number of songs before a large crowd. On that vary day her singing talent and efforts for the benefit of 'Thalassaemia patients' was highly praised and appreciated by all. The gatherings donated her Rs 3,000 for her cause.
Monthly magazine Jiban has selected top 10 persons of the year 2007 as below: Indira PP Bora whose tireless efforts have brought sattriya dance to the international stage. In 2007, she toured UK and conducted demonstrations, lectures, workshops in leading universities, museums and prime dance locations. In the same year, she also marked her golden jubilee year of dancing career. She has been an icon in establishing sattriya as career option and developing awareness among the new generation. Umananda Duwarah of Moran, a curator of cultural heritage. His own museum has over 1,700 gramophone records that include the original voices of Jyotiprasad, Bishnu Rabha and Phani Sarma, besides the...
Pressure has been mounting against the detention of Dr Binayak Sen in Chattisgarh with swelling number of people demanding unconditional and immediate release of Sen. Petitions addressed to the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, and others are swelling with numbers of people signing up from not only India but from expatriate community globally. Association for India's Development activists expressed their grave disappointment at the rejection of Dr Sen's bail by the Supreme Court of India. Dr Sen was arrested on 14 May 2007 under the draconian law - Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) 2006, which gives the state...
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