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.
17 May 2012 - 7:50pm | editor
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Vigilance department officials on Thursday raided the residence of RK Khan in connection with the Rs 1,000 crore scam in Dima Hasao district. The sleuths arrived in the residence of the suspended social welfare department official and started the raid from the wee hours. Vigilance department officials refused to divulge anything in detail.
An uneasy situation prevails in Nagaon on Thursday a day after a local trader was shot dead in Lanka. The incident took place in the midnight when victim Mukut Ali, who was halting for the night at a house in Lanka was shot dead by unidentified gunman. As he came out of the house at midnight, unidentified gunmen fired several rounds of bullets at Ali from a point blank range. He died on the spot. The miscreants vanished from the spot immediately after Ali was shot dead.
Despite heavy presence of security forces, BTAD areas are yet to fully get rid of ethnic clash. There is report of a fresh violence in Chirang district where unidentified miscreants burnt down houses in Kajol Gaon. Miscreants managed to escape before the arrival of police. Additional forces have been deployed in the entire affected areas on Wednesday.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday slammed LK Advani for his comment on Tuesday for blaming the government on the BTAD murder and mayhem. Talking to reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday, Gogoi said that the BJP leader LK Advani must have forgotten that he was the home minister and deputy prime minister when the Godhra riots took place.Gogoi said, “he was accused of acting delay in containing the violence.
The Assam government on Wednesday extended the summer vacation for a week in the schools and colleges in troubled torn Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts.According to Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the summer vacation of educational institutions have been extended by seven more days which could be extended further, if needed.He said that for students displaced in the violence, free text books and education materials will be provided.
Security forces apprehended four ULFA linkmen, including a woman in connection with the Goalpara IED blast where an army jawan was killed and six others injured on Tuesday.The police arrested a person and his daughter for allegedly giving shelter to the ULFA militants who carried out the explosion on Tuesday.According to police, acting on information provided by them, police arrested two other linkmen. Notably, the army jawan was killed and six others were injured while an army vehicle was damaged in an IED blast about one and half kilometres from Naranarayan Setu in Jogighopa when a convoy was on its way from Kokrajhar to Agia.
The National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to the Assam Government asking for a detailed report on the riots in BTAD areas. In a letter, the Commission has asked the chief secretary to inform about the arrangements made for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people and the financial assistance given to the victims. The Commission has also decided to send its own team to study the arrangements made by the State Government for rehabilitation of persons affected by riots. The team has been given four weeks time to submit report to the Commission.
Six persons were killed when a truck collided its head on an ambulance in Morigaon district on Wednesday.
The accident took place when the health department-owned ambulance carrying a 6 persons from Thelamara in Sonitpur district to Guwahati Medical College Hospital collided head-on with a loaded truck near Nelli in the wee hours.
All six inside the ambulance died on the spot. The patient has been identified as Jayshree Basumatary while four of her relatives accompanying her were Pranab Basumatary, Dhaneswar Basumatary, Mahindra Basumatary. The driver of the ambulance has been identified as Imran Ali. The truck driver and handyman fled from the spot.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed to have improved the situation in the BTAD areas forcing the refugees to gradually leave the camps.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Gogoi said that the refugees would be able to leave the camps latest by August 15. According to him, ten police pickets set up so far would help the people restore confidence in the violence-hit areas.
There were 278 relief camps sheltering 4.06 lakh persons in Kokrajhar, Chirang, Bongaigaon and Dhubri districts. The conflict claimed 56 lives, including six in police firing, while 61 have been injured and 11 are missing. The army was continuing flag marches in sensitive areas besides patrols by the police and...
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