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.
18 Jul 2016 - 12:21pm | AT News
Caught in a barrage of protest, the forest department has asked senior officer MT Timung to probe the shoot out in Kaziranga where a minor boy sustained grave injury on Sunday.The authority has...
23 Mar 2017 - 12:35am | AT News
An Assam police team has landed in Guwahati with Soobidh Biswas whom they arrested early in the morning on Wednesday 16 days after he allegedly incited violence in Silapothar. Immediately after it,...
1 Sep 2012 - 3:37am | editor
Life in BTAD areas and Dhubri district is rapidly limping back to normal. The last 48 hours are incident-free where curfew has been temporarily lifted from dawn to dusk. Same it is in Tezpur, Howly...
In a sigh of relief businessman Tinku Babaj is back to his home on Friday a day after he was kidnapped from Dimow. According to information, Bajaj returned to his home safely at around 9-30 at night. On Thursday night, a group of armed miscreants kidnapped him from Dimow.
Karnataka deputy chief minister R Ashoka is arriving in Guwahati on Saturday on a goodwill mission. Ashoka, who also holds the home portfolio would be accompanied by DGP Lalrokhuma Pachua along with a few other dignitaries. He is scheduled to meet Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday to discuss at length the pertinent issues and their probable solutions. He will interact with those who have returned from Karnataka as a part of the mass exodus after addressing a press conference in the evening.
Dispur is all set to hand over seven more cases to CBI for investigation registered against arrested BPF MLA Pradeep Brahma. Brahma has been named in seven cases after witnesses complained that he was leading the rioting mob holding AK-47 rifle. The investigating agency is likely to arrest some more people, including a few prominent persons, who were involved in the violence. The MLA was charged under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons, 149 (unlawful assembly), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 427 (causing damage), 379 (theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Pradeep Kumar Brahma has been admitted to the Kokrajhar Civil Hospital after he complained of discomfort and is undergoing treatment. Notably, MLA Pradeep Brahma, who represents the West Kokrajhar, was arrested on Thursday wee hours.
The Bodoland Peoples’ Front on Friday called off its indefinite bandh called after the arrest of Pradip Brahma. This has forced the authorities to lift curfew clamped immediately after the arrest. The indefinite curfew, imposed since 5 AM on Thursday was lifted by Kokrajhar district administration from 4 PM to 9 PM to allow people to buy their essentials. There is still restriction on assembly of five or more people at a spot.
August is a month that I miss Deta the most. Although he passed away in the month of July, I always find myself thinking about him more frequently at this time of the year. However, that’s not to say, I sit down weeping and feeling sad on that day; if anything, I like to celebrate in style. Of course, he had his ways to let me know that he is enjoying the day with me too...in style.
Sadly, in life, there is only one set of parents and they don’t live forever. The more you can give or/and can spend time with them, the better you feel within. Ailing health didn’t stop Deta from his work obligations. One minute he was in the hospital. The next you would catch him attending...
A joint delegation from Assam Association Mumbai and Manipuri Association called on joint commissioner of police in Mumbai Rajnish Sheth and Maharashtra DGP Sanjay Dayal and his additional Satyapal Singh on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum on behalf of entire north east people residing in Mumbai in the evening. Mumbai Assam Association General Secretary Dipen Rajkonwar, member Mafiul Ahmed and two more Naga and Manipuri Representative had attended the meeting.
The memorandum reads: In view of the large scale migration of people of North East origin from Mumbai, Pune, Karjat, Nashik and other places in Maharashtra, we tried to persuade people not to go back to their native homes....
Surface communication from Assam to the rest of the country remains cut off when thousands of BPF workers blocked railway track and highways leading to the state from Wednesday morning on protest against the arrest of West Kokrajhar MLA Pradip Brahma. The agitators who blocked all trains and vehicles demanded immediate release of Brahma and arrest of Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal. Shouting anti-government slogans, the protestors alleged that it was Baddrudiin who brought infiltrators from Bangladesh and fueled communal tension leading to riots and also provided arms and ammunitions to the Bangaldeshis. Curfew has been reimposed in the three districts of Bodoland Territorial Administered...
One more youth from Assam was found dead in West Bengal on Thursday. The body of Zakir Hussain was found near a railway station in Birbhum. Zakir hails from Hailakandi district. With this, the number of deaths of Assamese youths outside the state has gone up to 10.
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