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.
Assam governor J B Patnaik on Tuesday said that the ongoing orgy of violence is not a fit case to impose president’s rule in the state. Addressing a press conference In New Delhi, Patnaik appealed to the people of all sections to exercise restraint and to help the government restore normalcy in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri district where at least 33 people lost their lives.
Hundreds of people representing various minority organizations staged dharna in front of the Assam Bhawan in New Delhi, on Tuesday demanding steps to ensure safety of the minority people in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts. Shouting anti-government slogans, the protestors demanded deployment of more security forces to combat violence that spread to rural areas and neighbouring districts. Protesters said that the clash confines to only the Bodoland area. They alleged that the incident has been taking place for the couple of days even as no action has been taken.
Three members of the Broadcast Editors' Association on Tuesday called on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Guwahati and discussed the role of a section of media in the gory GS Road molestation case. Consisting of renowned journalists NK Singh Dibang and Ashutosh, the three member delegation discussed media role in building public opinion, competition among media houses and portrayal of regional news in national media. Later, Gogoi told the reporters that the discussion was positive.
Ethnic frenzy in three lower Assam districts has gone from bad to worse. The death toll has mounted to 32 on Tuesday. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has written to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister AK Antony asking for more paramilitary forces and troops to rein in the situation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi called up the chief minister to get an update of the situation.
According to information, around 40,000 people have fled their homes looking for safer areas. In Kokrajhar alone 19 people were killed killed in Kokrajhar and 12 others were killed in Chirang and adjoining areas.Incidents of violence are taking place mainly in the...
In a fresh development, a senior police officer in the troubled torn Chirang district has put in his papers caught in an awkward situation after the orgy of violence erupted in the district. Bijni Sub-Divisional Police Officer Narayan Das on Tuesday resigned from office saying that he was unable to control riots. Violence spread to the district on Sunday two days after it erupted in Kokrajhar.
Meanwhile, shoot-at-sight orders and an indefinite curfew have been clamped in the district. A night curfew has been clamped from 6 evening to 6 morning. Miscreants set on fire hundreds of houses after the villagers fled to safer areas.
TV journalist Gauravjyoti Neog was remanded to judicial custody after he was produced before the chief judicial magistrate in Guwahati on Tuesday. Neog, who filmed the GS Road molestation incident with the help of Amarjyoti Kalita was on Saturday was remanded to 3 days police custody which ended on Monday. He was arrested on Friday evening on the basis of some glaring evidence procured from several sources. Notably, other 14 people accused in the case have already been sent to jail a couple of days.
Train services to and from Assam remain severely disrupted on Tuesday following the ethnic clash in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts where death toll has gone up to 26.
Over 30,000 passengers have been remaining stranded at different places following violence where over 300 houses were reduced to ashes in over 30 villages.
According to NF Railway, 11 down trains from Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Kamakhya railway stations have been cancelled. Altogether 21 trains, including the Rajdhani Express, have been halted at different places along the route leaving more than 20,000 passengers stranded.
Several passengers have been injured when miscreants pelted stones at the Guwahati-bound...
Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Tuesday sought deployment of adequate forces in Assam to ensure safety of passengers in the trouble torn Kokrajhar and Chirang districts.
In a letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Roy said that the violence-hit areas in lower Assam need assistance to ensure safety for the railway passengers.
Security forces Tuesday shot dead four miscreants in Kokrajhar. With this the death toll in group clash in two districts has gone up to 25. Kokrajhar and Chirang district administrations are yet to lift the curfew clamped on Sunday. Additional security forces have arrived in both the troubled torn districts. Police opened blank fire on Tuesday to contain unrest. Curfew is in force in Gouripur, Golakganj, Bilasipara and Chapar areas. More than 40,000 people have abandoned their homes and taken shelter in relief camps set up by the district administration. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka and Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi have been camping in the districts. Director General...
Assam police on Tuesday got transit remand of Amar Jyoti Kalita a day after the main accused in the Guwahati molestation case was arrested in Varansi. Kalita was remanded to five days police custody when he was produced before a local court in Varansi on Tuesday in presence of a team of Assam police. Kalita would be brought back to Guwahati on Wednesday to be grilled in this connection. He and Gaurav Jyoti Neog, a reporter from a news channel filmed the molestation.
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