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.
Security forces apprehended a hardcore ULFA militant during a joint operation in Darrang district on Wednesday. A Chinese grenade has also been seized from his possession. He was identified as Nabajit Baishya who was arrested during a joint operation in Sipajhar on Wednesday morning. Acting on a tip-off, security forces carried out a search operation at a bus in Sipajhar in the morning where Nabajit was arrested. The anti-talk ULFA cadre was on his way to Tezpur from Guwahati. he hails from Tihu in Nalbari district.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq Karim on Wednesday praised Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for efficiently tackling the insurgency menace within a brief spell of time.
Karim, who called on the Chief Minister at his residence in Guwahati in the morning, also praised him for ensuring rapid development of the state. He said that the state has improved on its law and order front. They discussed several issues and hoped that there would be improved ties between the two neighbours. They further held discussions on ways to increase cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors, trade and explore the commercial potential of jute industry, cement and power generation for...
IIT-Guwahati Director Gautam Barua draws flak from IITs’ faculties on Tuesday for supporting Kapil Sibal who has proposed 'one-nation one-test' for entry into them and other institutes.All India IIT Faculty Federation in a statement called the move a shocked and pained. But the federation has not named Baruah. The statement came a day after Barua talking to TV channel deplored the extreme step by the IIT-Kanpur Senate on a small issue. Federation Secretary A K Mittal called it an unfortunate that a professor of the IIT system thinks that the selection of the students and the academic autonomy of the IITs is small issue.
Mittal's remarks came days after the Federation attacked IIT-...
Meghalaya on Tuesday reiterated political consensus to settle the simmering interstater border row with Assam.Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that the need was build a consensus among all political parties to solve the inter-state border dispute with Assam. He urged the agitating elected representatives and the individuals to re-strategise their approach as they put pressure on the government to solve the dispute. An MLA of the coalition partner in the Congress-led government Ardent Basaiawmoit and four other members to the Autonomous District Council, have called for a statewide sit-in protest against the government for its 'failure' to end the crisis at the border.
The Centre on Tuesday virtually ruled out immediate release of Ranjan Daimary to expedite the peace process with NDFB. The message surfaced when a delegation of the Bodo National Conference delegation met home ministry joint secretary Shambhu Sigh in New Delhi demanding release of the NDFB chairman to expedite peace process. But the Centre denied immediate release of the leader saying that efforts are to break the logjam. Talking to reporters, the BNC spokesman Khampa Borgoyari said that the meeting with the home ministry official was very comprehensive and productive and they were hopeful for release of Daimary.
The Assam government on Tuesday launched an ambitious scheme which targets to achieve 16 goals for women and child welfare by 2016, including reducing the infant and maternal mortality rates, improving sex ratio and improving enrolment of the girl child in the state.
Titled as 'Chief Minister's Vision for Women and Children: 2016, the document also seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in all skill development programmes of the state government, besides curbing child labour and trafficking of women and children within next four years. Releasing the document at a function in Guwahati, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the state marching on all fronts. He said that with this...
Sensational prevails in Nalbari following the death of a protestor when he was participating at a dharna in front of the municipality office here on Tuesday. The 47 year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the civil hospital where he died. The incident took place when over 300 demonstrators had gathered to protest against failure of the district administration to take any steps to prevent the problem of water-logging in the town.
A child died and eight others have been seriously injured when lightning struck two villages in Kamrup (Rural) district on Tuesday. The incident took in the evening when thunderstorms and lightning struck Western and Eastern Hatigaon villages. The 12 year-old child was identified and the injured were admitted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital where their condition was stated to be critical.
The Assam government is in a move to increase reservation for women in local bodies to 50 per cent of the total seats. If it so happens, it would mark a rise from the current 33 per cent. According to Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Rockybul Hussain, the government is seriously considering 50 per cent reservation in seats to women in the panchayat and local municipal bodies.
But he did not mention any timeframe for bringing a legislation to increase the number of reserved seats. Government data suggest that women candidates won 38.2 per cent seats in gram panchayats in Assam, 36.8 per cent in anchalik panchayats and 34.6 per cent in zilla parishads in the last polls held in...
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Unnati Samaj activists staged a day-long dharna in front of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited at Jagiroad on Tuesday demanding the repeal of the allotted lease of bamboo supply to a private individual.
The protesters further demand cancellation of transfer order of the paper mill's Chief Executive P K Bhuyan. AASU leaders alleged that Bhuyan, who was reportedly against the allotment of the bamboo supply to the private party, has been recently been transferred to Kerala. The agitators were also demanding the transfer of the HPCL headquarters from Kolkata to Assam. The two organisations have also sent a memorandum to Heavy Industries Minister...
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