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.
4 Jan 2018 - 7:47pm | AT News
Guwahati, 4 January 2018 — In a historic development northeast India gets its first Skill Development Center of Excellence, an initiative through industry-academia participation under government...
14 Sep 2014 - 1:22pm | AT News
Former DGP Shankar Baruah is undergoing treatment at the Down Town Hospital on Sunday.He was admitted in the hospital following sudden ailment on Saturday. But only to be released in the evening....
30 Jul 2013 - 7:13pm | Nava Thakuria
The next session of GNRC Media Fellowship program will begin on August 5. Nine working journalists have already been selected for the fellowship program, which is sponsored by GNRC Hospitals and...
5 Jan 2016 - 11:18pm | Ashoke Kumar Das
Sankarghola is a village under the North Salmara sub-division of Bongaigaon district of Assam. It is located in the foothills of Bhairabsura hill under Bhairabsura reserve forest. The nearby forest...
Normal life in Guwahati was thrown out of gear as it was lashed by heavy rainfall. Several vital points in the city are under waist deep water bringing traffic to a standstill and stranding commuters. The worst affected areas are RGB Road, GS Road and Zoo Road which have been completely submerged.
Assam is in the fresh grip of flood wave triggered by heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of river Brahmaputra. Rain waters have wreaked havoc in seven districts. According to information, rainfall in the catchment areas of the Brahmaputra, has resulted in alarming rise in water level. There was, however, no report of any loss of lives so far.Huge areas of human habitation and cropland in Baksa, Barpeta, Kamrup, Nalbari, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Sibsagar districts have been submerged and nearly 150 villages with a population of nearly two lakh were affected. The government has opened 15 relief camps in Baksar, Goalpara, Kamrup and Nalbari districts which are housing more than 50,000 people...
BJP is preparing to put the UPA government in a fix over the strings of ethnic clash in BTAD areas when parliament will resume its session on Wednesday. The party’s executive committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss the strategy.
Disclosing this BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that BJP will be raising issues of general public concern such as the communal violence in Assam. He said the party has decided to raise Assam clashes on the very first day of the session, contending the violence has not stopped as yet.Same it was what Sushma Swaraj said before the reporters in Delhi.
The Centre on Monday blamed external elements in the ethnic clashes in BTAD areas and Dhubri areas where almost 60 were killed. Dispur is also likely to hand over the probe into the recent violence to CBI. Talking to reporters in New Delhi Union home secretary RK Singh said that the situation is under control as of now. There could be some external elements behind the violence.
Singh had ruled out the possibility of involvement of anyone from across the border saying it was simply impossible for any organised group crossing over to India from across the border as the international border was sealed. He said that state and the Centre are determined that we will have this investigated and...
Refuges in Chirang alleged inadequate medical facilities in the camps. The medical teams find it quite difficult to move to the camps in the absence of security forces. CRPF jawans sprang upon a team of health workers in Bijni. On the other hand, so far 8 refugees died of various diseases. Indefinite curfew was reimposed in Chirang district where three bodies were recovered on Sunday. Night curfew was continuing in Kokrajhar, where two bodies were recovered, besides Baska and Dhubri districts.
Tension still grips BTAD areas. Dispur has set up 104 police pickets in Dhubri and BTAD areas. Security personnel start manning these violence-hit areas from Monday.A SSB team had a narrow escape on Sunday when unidentified miscreants opened indiscriminate firing in Amguri area in Bijni. On Monday miscreants set on fire a house in the area. Security forces have apprehended a former militant in this connection.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday reviewed the relief measures in BTAD areas and Dhubri district where 60people were killed. Gogoi directed the senior officials to carry out relief and rehabilitation measures on a war footing. He said that the topmost priority was relief and rehabilitation measures and all our energies should be channelized towards it. He asked the additional Chief Secretary to instruct the Deputy Commissioners of the affected districts to decongest the camps immediately and to open up new camps so that there is no major outbreak of diseases.
Gogoi further instructed the PHE Secretary to construct latrines and to install water pumps in and around the relief camps in a...
Two hardcore Ulfa militants were shot dead during an encounter with police in Goalpara district on Sunday. The encounter took place at 8-30 in the evening at an inaccessible area in Rongjuli. Acting on a tip off, a team of police from Guwahati launched an operation where the heavy gunbattle took place. The Ulfa duo died on the spot. Identified as Ratul Asom and Raghu Asom, the duo was allegedly involved in the recent attack on army in Goalpara where a jawan died and 4 others have been injured.
Identified as Ratul Asom and Raghu Asom, the duo was allegedly involved in the recent attack on army in Goalpara where a jawan died.
The Electronic Media Forum Assam (EMFA) has welcome the gesture of Satyam Foundation to offer Rs 51,000 as financial assistance for the treatment of Lalit Sarma, a Guwahati based television reporter. The EMFA also thanks Bhaskar Dev Konwar, a city based advocate, for offering Rs 11,000 for his treatment.
Sarma, a crime reporter of DY365 is suffering from the ailment of partial paralysis for some weeks and he needs urgent treatment outside Assam. He is planning to visit Kerala for undergoing treatment with traditional medicine there.
Mentionable is that Satyam Foundation, a Guwahati based welfare institution comprising some prominent cultural personalities of Assam, had honoured over 20...
Three persons have been injured when a powerful bomb exploded in Goreswar on Sunday. It took place at around 4-30 and bomb was planted on a tree which exploded at a village beside the Rangia-Goreswar Road. The bomb exploded with a huge sound when one of the trio tried to switch on a radio after he came to see it on a tree. The injured have been rushed to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital after preliminary treatment at the Goreswar Hospital.
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