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.
Yet another mild tremor jolted Assam on Sunday in the time of flood. The mild tremor of 4.3 struck at 9.55 in the morning creating panic among the people. Panic-stricken people in many flood relief camps started crying in fear. In Guwahati also, a section of the people housing in the high buildings came out to the streets as soon as they came to feel the earthquke.
Assam is in deep grip of the killer Japanese Encephalitis where the toll has gone up to 20. That too in Sivasagar district alone. Over 100 people from the district have been under going treatment in the various hospital. According to reports, cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome are on the rise. The number has shot up to 332 till Saturday. The death toll has touched 50.
The worst-hit districts are Kamrup, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Morigaon, Darrang and Nalbari. Doctors blame it all on the halt in fogging due to the floods and rain. They said that during monsoons, people are more prone to diseases. Government efforts are on to keep the situation under control. Although vaccination is said to...
Congress MLA Rumi Nath and her second husband Jaki Jakir were given medical assistance in Guwahati a day after the duo were mercilessly thrashed by a huge mob in Karimganj. A team of doctors from the Guwahati Medical College Hospital reached their official quarter in Dispur after they were escorted to the capital city on Sunday.
The couple is reported to be out of danger. This is the first instance in the state when a lady MLA was beaten up in public. A strong contingent of police and CRPF forces is guarding Nath and her husband at their MLA quarter in the Dispur. Talking to reporters on Saturday evening Nath alleged that the culprits who had outraged the modesty of a woman should be...
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to visit the state on Monday to take a stock of the situation.According to information, the duo would make an aerial survey across the state during their hurricane visit to the state. Meanwhile, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority on Saturday visited flood affected areas and took stoke of the situation.
The overall flood condition improves on Saturday following halt in the incessant rains that lashed Assam last week.The situation in Dhemaji, Jorhat,Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, and Tinsukia has slightly improved but the major rivers still flowing above the danger level.But the water level in Goalpara and Dhubri districts remained unchanged. Rescue and relief operations are being carried out in the flood affected areas.The government has intensified the relief works across the state. Over 3 lakh 12 thousand people have been sheltered at around 550 camps. This is apart from 200 medical teams along with Mobile Medical Unit.
Hundreds of Khasi people from Meghalaya staged indefinite hunger strike in Langpih bordering Assam on Saturday. They said that with the strike they want to mount pressure on the government to settle to the long-pending border dispute.The hunger strike was led by a 28-year-old youth from West Khasi Hills district, Pynshkemlang Nongshlong, and actively participated by villagers, including women and children.Meanwhile, the People's Movement, which is spearheading the fight to solve the long pending border dispute with neighbouring Assam, also staged a one-day demonstration here expressing solidarity with the fast unto death agitation by the people at the border.The delegation of the People's...
Rumi Nath and her second husband Jeki Jakir said that the mob attack was a political conspiracy. Addressing a press conference in Dispur on Saturday evening, the couple said that they did not come to see even a single person who hail from Karimganj when they were attacked inside the hotel.
Karimganj district administration on Saturday slammed prohibitory orders under Section 144 a day after Congress MLA from Barak Valley Rumi Nath was beaten up by a hundred-strong mob at a hotel on Friday night. Security forces have been deployed in the vital public places to disperse the mob on the streets for and against the MLA. Hundreds of her supporters blocked the vital roads in the entire district in several places in protest against the incident. The protesters further damaged at least 20 vehicles at the height of the protest. Rumi and her 28-year-old husband Zakir Hussain were hospitalised after the incident. Her personal life has been under the scanner since she left her first...
Former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma on Saturday pinned hopes on support from the north east political leaders to help him reach the Raisina Hill. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati three days after filing nomination for the presidential post, Sangma said the he want to show the country wants a tribal leader in its helm. He further appealed to the political parties to favour him without any doubt or fear. He is confidence that he would win the presidential elections. He said that he has contested parliamentary elections nine times and legislative assembly elections twice and that he has no record of any defeat. Notably, he receives support from AGP, UDP, Hill State Peoples'...
The two month long kidnap drama in Goalpara district came to a tragic end when police recovered the bodies of two teachers on Sunday more than a month after they were kidnapped along the Assam-Meghalaya border. The bodies of the teachers namely Kamaleswar Rabha and Sarit Rabha on Saturday. They were kidnapped last month from Golpur area of the district. The teachers were kidnapped by local miscreants who shot them dead after their ransom demand was not met.
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