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.
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MARGHERITA: Security forces claimed to have eliminated two dreaded rebels from Assam and Manipur at a fierce gunfight in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. According to information, the gun battle took...
15 Jan 2018 - 10:58am | AT News
DIBYA J BARTHAKUR RAHA: People thronged in thousands in Aahotguri in Nagaon on Monday to catch a glimpse of the buffalo fight defying a standing Supreme Court directive. The tiny area of historical...
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Governor Meghalaya Ranjit Sekhar Mooshahary receiving the “MAN OF THE YEAR 2008” by the Jnanpith awardee Dr. Mamoni Roysom Goswami at a programme organized by the ENKHONG, a Bodo Daily...
31 Aug 2015 - 8:21pm | AT News
In a fresh orgy of violence that puts Manipur in trouble, unidentified miscreants set on fire several ancestral houses belonging to MLAs and ministers on Monday hours after the assembly cleared three...
The All Koch Rajbanshi Students Union has called for 1000-hour bandh from first of January 2008 across Assam and north Bengal in protest against the forcible entry of its striking leaders. The district administration on Wednesday rushed the AKRSU activists to the hospital citing deteriorating health while they have been striking for separate Kamatapur from sixteenth of December. They received verbal permission for hunger strike by the district administration. AKARSU president Biswajit Rai said.The proposed 1000-hour bandh is facing stiff opposition from a section of media. But the AKARSU leaders make it plain and simple that they will not reconsider it as the government did not visited...
The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad has promised to change the face of rural Assam with thrust on roads, health, drinking water, electricity, education etc if it is voted in the upcoming panchayat polls. In its panchayat poll manifesto released in the city on Wednesday, party president Brindabon Goswami said, they will ensure decentralisation of powers in the panchayat system to implement developmental schemes through rural bodies. Goswami further said education, agricultural products, village industries will also be in the party's thrust areas.Goswami observed that his party stresses overall development with decentralisation of power in federal structure. He further said with his...
The pragatisheel Asom Gana Parishad will ensure decentralisation of power in the panchayat system if the party is voted to power in the upcoming election.In the party's panchayat manifesto released in the city on Wednesday, Pragatisheel Asom Gana Parishad president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said beside decentralisation, the regional party will ensure a strengthen financial system in the panchayati raj. The party will further constitute finance panel to make the panchayat system more powerful in financial affairs.Besides, the party's panchayat manifesto promises steps to uplift the schedule tribes and schedule castes people. Moreover, Mahanta said his party has been supporting the...
Hundreds of fish were found dead in Kacharighat last morning in mysterious circumstances. The fish’s watery grave in a pool which is separated from the Brahmaputra by a sandbar is the immersion area of local puja idols became a haunt of curious onlookers as the news of the dead fish spread.The incident came into focus after some local residents observed the dead fish in the otherwise clear water of the pool. And an equal number of sick fishes were also observed fighting for life in the shallow waters near the river bank.Members of the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) rushed to the spot and began the preliminary investigations regarding the mass deaths. Deepak Barua, Deputy...
In a tragic incident inside the Assam State Zoo on Wednesday a man died while a tiger attacked him while he was trying to capture its photograph with a mobile phone beside the cage.The tiger dissected his hand leaving him seriously injured. Later the person has been rushed to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
he police has arrested the striking AKARSU activist from the city on Wednesday morning. Earlier, the ailing activists have been rushed to the hospital in view of their detoriating health condition. The activists have been staging hunger strike demanding separate Kamatapur. Various political parties, organisations and individuals have visited the protesters and expressed their solidarity. But the government has yet to address them.
The Reserve Bank of India is setting up a committee to suggest the measures to uplift the bank scenario in the north eastern region.Talking to reporters in the sidelines of a function on Tuesday, its regional director regional director Sewali Chaudhory said banking activities in this region has not been satisfactory over the years compared to other fronts of the country.Meanwhile, the Vijaya bank has a business worth Rs 3000 crore in this region.
A capacity building programme on Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was recently organised by the Integrated Rural Artisans’ Development Organisation (IRADO), a premier North East-based NGO.According to information, organisation chairperson Bonojit Talukdar explained the objective of the program saying awareness among women in general and rural artisans in particular about the Act was a must.He said domestic violence has adversely affected artisans, weavers and their productivity. Social activist and head of Nirmal Ashroy, an NGO, MR Kalsi said in the North East, violence against women has been seen.Another social activist Rupasree Bora Bordoloi said to save oneself from domestic violence,...
It’s a major embarrassment for the Assam government. The adivasi outfit ANLA has categorically denied its involvement in the Beltala violence on November 24.ANLA leader Bikash Munda said the outfit is not involved in the incident in any way.While he was taken to produce in the court, the arrested ANLA leader further pleaded his ignorance when asked whether the outfit was involved in the blast on Rajdhani Express in Golaghat district. The state government has been suspecting ANLA’s hands in the Beltala mayhem.Briefing media recently, the Assam government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma did not rule out adivasi outfit ANLA’s involvement in the incident.Notably, police...
The Assam unit of Bharatiya Janata Party vows to eliminate all corruption in the panchayat system if the party is voted in the upcoming panchayat polls. In its poll manifesto released in the city on Tuesday, the party promised steps to control the prices of essential commodities and also steps for overall development of the people.After its victory in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, the Assam BJP unit target the panchayat polls to steal the march. In its manifesto for the panchayat polls, the party promised that the party, if voted, will make an end to the on going corruptions in the implementations of the schemes for old age pension, widow pension. The party further alleged that...
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