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.
21 Feb 2015 - 5:28pm | Abdul Gani
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to be signed between Assam and Afghanistan, India’s strategic ally and neighbour in Central Asia. This fact was revealed by Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the...
19 May 2017 - 3:59pm | Shajid Khan
A self styled sergeant major of ULFA(I) was gunned down in an encounter with security forces at Nalkhamra chuburi in Sunanaipara village, Udalguri on Thursday noon. Acting on intelligence inputs, a...
7 May 2014 - 9:09pm | AT News
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi reviewed the state’s law and order at a high level meeting with Chief Secretary and DGP at Koinadhora in Guwahati on Wednesday.Hours after his BTAD visit, Gogoi talked to...
6 Feb 2014 - 8:46am | Manas Pratim Das
The Assam Don Bosco University organized a cultural tribute to Rupknowar in collaboration with the Music and Singing club, Rangayan club and Nrityangana club, 5th February.The Programme started with...
The Bangladeshi immigration is continuing unabated in the Northeast. In what was considered to be a problem primarily in Assam seems to be extending to the other states of Northeast as well. The latest to join Assam and Tripura in this problem is Arunachal Pradesh. It is ironic that a State which has the Inner line Permit in place for even Indians seems to be having problems with immigrants from Bangladesh who seem to be entering into the State from Assam. These immigrants have started working in various menial jobs and have even set up small shops in some cases. The heartening fact is that unlike Assam, Arunchal Pradesh has started taking concrete steps to deport the illegal migrants out...
Dibrugarh: In a significant step, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has ordered that wages should be deducted for the month of June for Grade IV employees who went on a strike on June 8, 9 and 10 as they were dissatisfied with the fact that some of the staff was put on duty in different sections of the medical college. The announcement by Sarma for deduction of wages comes at a time when the employees have again gone on a strike since Tuesday after police arrested two Grade IV employees of the medical college in connection with the mysterious theft of a baby from the hospital on June 27. Sarma has indicated that similar or even more stringent action action may be taken for the...
Guwahati: The junior inter district football championship for the Santosh Lahkar Trophy will be organised at Kaliabor from July 15. 31 district teams are participating in the 14-day knock out meet. As is the norm, the inaugural match will give an opportunity for the hosts Kaliabor to display their talents as they take on Hojai.
One more Rhino was discovered dead in the famous Kaziranga National Park, home of the one horned Rhinoceros. The “Gar Kharga” (horn) of the Rhino was missing. A total of seven rhinos have been killed by the poachers this year for the horn. Authorities in Kaziranga had nothing much to comment as usual except mentioning that they were doing their best to curtail these killings.Organized poachers kill Rhinos for their horns, which many believe contain aphrodisiac qualities, besides being used as medicines for curing fever, stomach ailments and other diseases in parts of South Asia. Rhino horn is also much fancied by buyers from the Middle East who turn them into handles of...
Encephalitis is a viral inflammation of the brain. While some infections are mild, with few if any specific symptoms, others can be deadly. Early symptoms often include headaches, fever, and nausea. If the disease progresses, the person may suffer seizures, paralysis, mental confusion, and coma. Often the disease is accompanied by viral meningitis. Mosquitoes carry some of the most dangerous types of encephalitis, including equine encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis, and St. Louis encephalitis. In other cases, encephalitis develops as a secondary complication of other viral diseases, including chickenpox, herpes, mumps, polio, and rubella. Treatment depends on the type and severity of the...
Our correspondent Dhemaji: Encephalitis has been reported from Dhemaji. Already three children have been reported killed by the deadly disease. Medical authorities have put the area on high alert.(Further reading to understand Encephalitis, please read in the Knowledge and Development Section/ What is Encephalitis)
In a surprise statement, ULFA has claimed that P C Ram is still alive and the decomposed body recovered earlier was not of Ram. Police and Army personnel are discussing the latest update and they have decided to send in the matter from the ground from where they have recovered the body for a DNA test. Meanwhile his son Parvin when contacted has expressed surprise over the developments. He has said that if his father is still alive as claimed by ULFA, they should allow him to telephonically talk with the family which would be a proof that he is actually alive. He also wanted to understand why the Police could not think of doing a DNA test before
Unemployment is a burning problem in the country and Assam is no exception. The ever growing population has made it extremely difficult for the government to provide jobs for every educated youth. Educated unemployed are rapidly flooding the state. Government jobs have become a pipe dream. Here arises the need of introducing vocational training courses in our syllabi from an early stage in schools itself which will help the youth to be self sufficient rather than awaiting for that coveted dream job.Unlike other states the Northeast and Assam in particular has been deprived of private companies and Multi national Companies who shy away from investing in the region due to extremism. For the...
New Delhi: The Centre finetunes a slew of measures to ensure essential supply for the north eastern region following the damage of the Lumding-Badarpur railway network. Also immediate steps are there to restore the network. The Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday morning assessed the situation and issues instructions to the ministries of railways, food and public distribution, petroleum, road transport, home to ensure the supply of essential commodities in the region.Convened by the PMO, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, T K A Nair, Assam revenue minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman and key officials of the concerned ministries attended the meeting.The Assam Government informs that...
Guwahati: The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Sunday said the outfit was ready to hold peace talks with Indian Government to put an end the present impasse.'We have all along been willing to hold talks for a respectable solution to the problem. We once again reiterate that if the Indian Government comes up with any proposal for a respectable solution to the problem and it is routed through the People's Consultative Group (PCG), we are ready toconsider,' Rajkhowa said in a statement published in its fortnightly newsletter Swadhinata or Freedom.’ The lack of any political solution has resulted in the conflict in Assam turning...
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