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.
2 May 2014 - 8:22am | Hantigiri Narzary
BTAD areas seem to have embroiled in a fresh string of murder and mayhem. Seven persons including two children were killed in yet another incident of militant attack on Friday wee hours.The incident...
11 Sep 2011 - 9:13pm | editor
Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Nagaon in association with Gram Vikas Parishad a premier state level NGO observed International Literacy Day on September 8 with a day long programme. The bouquet of...
21 Apr 2014 - 11:15am | Hitesh Kalita
Drumming up support for Narendra Modi, the NRIs from USA are organizing hundreds of "chai pe charcha" and many more campaigning events in the US and calling up people in India to influence voters to...
2 Nov 2014 - 10:15pm | Abdul Gani
Finally, the five day cultural extravaganza – Discover North East- Assam and Shilpmela comes to an end on Sunday with magnificent display of colour and variety of northeast region. The...
Curfew in Rangiya was relaxed from 7 in the morning to 7 on Sunday evening. Shops and markets were open in Rangiya town even as security forces continued to maintain strict vigil. But the situation is tense. There have been no reports of any fresh incidents in the past few hours. Meanwhile, one more special train reached Guwahati this morning from Bangalore carrying around 800 passengers.
One person was injured in Dhubri district and a few houses were torched in Chirang district in yet another string of untoward incident during the last 12 hours. According to police, the injured person hails from Chilkikhata, under Bilasipara police station who was attacked by a group of miscreants attacked. The condition of the injured is stated to be critical and he has been shifted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.
On the other hand, unidentified miscreants set ablaze three houses at Khunkrajora under Bijni police station in Chirang on Saturday night forcing the authorities to beef up security with additional forces. The Army is also conducting flag marches at various places.
The 65TH Foundation Day of the College of Veterinary Science (C.V.Sc.), Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara was celebrated with pomp and gaiety on 18th August 2012 with a day long programme. The programme started with Flag Hoisting by Dr. R. N. Goswami, Dean, C.V.Sc. followed by “Swahid Tarpan and an impressive cultural procession by students, teachers and employees of the college. In his flag hosting speech Dr. R. N. Goswami, presented before the gathering the historical perspective, growth and development and the achievements of the college in acting as an instrument of change of social and economic status of the society. He appealed all the faculties, employees and students...
Eminent litterateur Dr Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya will attend the Guest of the Month program of Guwahati Press Club on August 24 next. The interactive program will start at 12 noon. Honored with various awards including Sahityacharya by Asom Sahitya Sabha, Dr Bhattacharya will speak to the journalists on his creative journey with the zeal of research on indigenous people and culture of northeast India. Member-journalists of Guwahati Press Club are requested to participate in the same.
Two people died in West Bengal after the duo were pushed out of a Guwahati-bound train from Bangalore on Sunday. The gory incident took place in the wee hours between Belakoba and Raninagar railway stations. Nine others were injured, four of them seriously. It took place shortly after it left New Jalpaiguri station.
One of the victims died on the spot while the another succumbed to injuries at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri. One of the victims has been identified. All the injured have been shifted to the North Bengal Medical College Hospital. Train was carrying a large number of people from Assam who had left Bangalore following rumours that people from the...
In a significant development, there has been drastic decline in the exodus of north east people from the southern states during the last 12 hours. According to information, panic among the Northeast people working in Bangalore, Hyderabad seems to have subsided. Keeping this in mind, the railways have not deployed no new trains for Guwahati. Lesser crowds were also seen in the Guwahati-bound trains from Mumbai and Bangalore on Saturday. Officials in Mumbai said there were a few empty seats in the Guwahati Express. Some passengers from Mumbai said panic was not the reason for their travel. There were similar scenes at the Bangalore railway station that saw lesser crowds on Saturday.
Amid unabated exodus of north east people, Union home secretary RK Singh on Saturday said that most of the rumours came from Pakistan. He said that the images of an incident three and a half month back were circulated in Bangalore from across the border to incite people. According to Singh, two units have been monitoring the websites. Of them, 34 websites have been identified so far.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a huge Rs 1 lakh reward to anyone providing information on the culprits behind the BTAD violence. In a statement, the country’s premier investigation agency said that credible and relevant information, photo, audio or video clip etc. leading to identification or arrest of perpetrators of the crimes would be rewarded. Beside phone numbers 8811099997 or 8811099996 or send an SMS on these numbers, information can also be faxed on 03664-241253 or e-mailed on hobsc1del@cbi.gov.in. The CBI has registered seven cases relating to the communal violence in Assam in the districts of Kokrajhar, Dubri and Chirang.
The South Central Railway is gearing up to help the panic stricken people go back to north east following rumour of attack. According to information, extra coaches are attached to trains going towards Kolkata and Guwahati. Two additional general coaches were attached to Hyderabad-Howrah East Coast Express on Saturday with many coaches to this train on Sunday.
Karnataka police arrested three more persons on Saturday for spreading rumours about attacks on north east people. This has taken the total number of those detained in this connection so far to 16. Anees Pasha, Tseen Nawaz and Shahid Salman Khan were arrested under IPC section 153 (A) (spreading enmity among various communities) by spreading rumours through email and SMS. Police seized four mobile phones, two computers and a laptop from their possession. So far 15 cases had been registered in connection with the rumour mongering.
Comments
Pages
Add new comment