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.
1 Apr 2008 - 2:36pm | editor
Assam’s powerful student body All Assam Students Union has demanded Assam Accord implementation minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman’s resignation for his failure to keep his words in terms of...
5 Aug 2008 - 8:46pm | editor
We, the undersigned urge the people of Assam to celebrate the 61st anniversary of our Independence Day on August 15 in a befitting manner.We, the people of the State have inherited the spirit of the...
11 Jun 2012 - 12:38am | editor
Only 50 days are left for the London Olympic. For the first time archer Jayanta Talukdar will be seen in action. The archer, who hails from Assam, is the only member of the Indian men's recurve team...
Life in BTAD areas and Dhubri is limping back to normal. There was no report of any fresh incident from Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts during the last 24 hours. But night curfew would continue. A CBI team on Friday visited Kokrajhar to gather inputs on the ethnic clashes that took 77 lives. Headed by a special director K Saleem Ali and Deputy Inspector General Satish Golcha the team gathered inputs on the main reasons behind these incidents.
They further would try to ascertain the possible angle of their investigation. The team straightly left for Joypur village where four Bodo youths were lynched spreading the violence to other places. This was followed by their visit to...
Security forces have apprehended six of ULFA militants and seized two powerful bombs during an encounter in Tinsukia district on Friday. Getting wind of the presence of an ULFA group, police launched a search operation in Borburi area since in the evening where the encounter followed. Two cadres were nabbed while another fled away. Five more cadre of ULFA were arrested following the interrogation of the duo and two powerful IEDs arrested from an abandoned cremation ground, 500 metres from the parade ground where the district administration was due to hold the I-Day parade.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is likely to reshuffle his cabinet. According to top sources, the reshuffle is expected in between August 20 and 25. Two cabinet ministers are likely to be dropped. A former minister is likely to be inducted. Congress high command is understood to have issued a letter to the chief minister ordered the ministries to be reshuffled within this month.
The reshuffle is the fall out of a rift between Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and a Cabinet minister of the state government Dr Himanta Biswa Sarmah.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde would visit Kokrajhar on Monday. This was confirmed by AICC general secretary in charge of Assam Digvijay Singh on Friday when he was addressing a press conference in Guwahati. During the visit, the duo would take stock of the situation prevailing in BTAD areas and Dhubri district.
Dhubri on Friday witnessed strident protest against BJP leader L.K. Advani’s alleged attempt to politicize the BTAD violence. Hundreds of protesters burnt Advani's effigy a day after he had said that the violence should not be seen as a communal incident.
AIUDF on Friday demanded immediate removal of Tarun Gogoi as Assam Chief Minister alleging that the minority people are not at all safe at the hands of Gogoi. A delegation of the party led by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and later demanded the removal of state chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, he said that the violence was only a false front to rid the area of non-Bodos. Before that the AIUDF delegation met Union home minister SK Shindhe.
There is no rift in the state cabinet on the ethnic clashes in BTAD. This was simply what AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said on Friday. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Singh said that the report of rift in the cabinet is a media creation. Singh said that the people should come together and usher peace in the BTAD area. He urged all political groups to bury their differences and work together in this time of crisis. The AICC leader said on July 20 they were in position.
A CBI team on Friday gathered vital inputs in Kokrajhar to begin its probe into the ethnic clashes in BTAD areas. Headed by A Ali, the two member team will ascertain the possible angle of their investigation. With the police in four affected districts - Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Baska - registering 309 cases in connection with the violence, CBI is yet to decide on the cases it would investigate.
Senior cabinet ministers and state Congress leaders on Friday resolved to mend the difference between government and the party on the BTAD clashed. This was simply what a crucial meeting of cabinet ministers and party leaders decided in presence of AICC leader Digvijay Singh.Convened at Koinadhara, the meeting was attended by chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his senior colleague along with APCC president Bhubneswar Kalita, Paban Sing Ghatowar, Bhumidhar Barman, Sarat Borkotoky and several others.
CBI is preparing to probe only 7 cases instead of 309 cases handed over by Dispur. The CBI team led by S Ali decided to register 7 cases after consultation with chief minister, DGP and chief secretary and other top officials. The 2 member team left for Kokrajhar in the morning to gather priliminary information and would be back to Delhi in the afternoon.
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