Noted environmentalist Medha Patkar on Wednesday opposed construction of big dams in the North East to save the region from complete destruction. Addressing a huge rally in Guwahati, organised under the aegis of the Kisan Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), she said the rivers must be saved at any cost.
She said the government divided people on the lines of caste and religion but now they are taking the name of development.
According to Patkar, "People want development of rivers, power, aquatic life and people of living on river banks and not just of corporate houses and a section of politicians."
The construction of dams involved scams amounting to several thousands of crore and some corporate houses and politicians were allegedly involved in this, she claimed.
She appreciated KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi for organising the rally and giving a voice to the farmers who would be the worst affected if dams are constructed on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
Patkar, later, fell ill and was rushed to a hospital, while leading a protest march from the Sonaram Field to the Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner's office but her condition was stated to be stable.
Meanwhile, tense situation prevailed near the Deputy Commissioner's Office when more than five thousand protestors gathered to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Deputy Commissioner. The district authorities declared the gathering illegal and asked the crowd to disperse within ten minutes. Akhil Gogoi pointed out that they had applied for necessary permission for holding a dharna at the Dispur Last Gate but was denied following they had sought permission for holding a rally at Sonaram Field and a protest march which was subsequently granted.
PermalinkSubmitted by kkp on Fri, 23/07/2010 - 20:24
@Rongmon Pegu: may be there are less money involves in wind and solar energy than in river and dam to fill the butty of our politicians and corporate houses and dalals.
PermalinkSubmitted by Himadree Buragohian on Fri, 30/07/2010 - 16:37
It is really appreciating for renowned environmentalist Medha Patkar and KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi to come out and protest for the greater welfare of the general masses who are a neglected lot by the Govt as their cries carry no meaning for the politicians and the bureaucrats.Kudos to such leaders pleading for the poor citizens.
PermalinkSubmitted by Molokhu on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 16:11
IN THE NAME OF 'USER RIGHT'
I read the news story “Chinese move on Brahmaputra: Govt action plan on user right”, reported by noted journalist Kalyan Barooah from New Delhi (‘The Assam Tribune’, Page 1; Saturday, July 24, 2010). While being in the Indian Union any small entity, be it a state, a group of people have to be vigilant against powerful forces which influence policy makers and decision takers. Unlike the fringe territories, the central mainland has a huge homogenous population, where from springs a powerful lobby which exhorts power overtly in politics and covertly in economic matters. The scene hasn’t changed much down the centuries.
When Buddhism was gaining popularity in India, the Brahmans came up with an interesting idea to retain power in the socio-economic-political and religious spheres. Gautam Buddha was shown as the ninth avatar of the Hindu mythical god of protection, Vishnu. By inducting such a tricky clause in the Purans and related religious scriptures, the identity of Buddhism as an independent religion was destroyed. Slowly Buddhism lost its grip in ancient India. Persons who constitute different policy making structures like the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) are the neo-Brahmins of modern India.
At a time when anti-dam agitation is taking the form of a mass movement, the CoS has come up with a strategy of major storage project in the three basins (which includes Subansiri, Siang and Lohit) under the disguise of a concept aptly named ‘User Right’. Whether China wants to dam or divert the Brahmaputra is not known. Whether China will or can divert the Brahmaputra is not known. Whether the story of a dam to divert the river by China is a propaganda by a section of Indian media in connivance with the Central and Corporate lobby is not known. But that the Central Governement is hand in gloves with giant corporations to exploit the hydro-power of north-eastern states is an open secret now. These power groups with an eye on profits worth billions and trillions would never sit idle over a so called storage project. Any conscious and thinking person would know what the storehouse would hold for power generators and the massive devastation that a minimal gush of water from such projects can cause downstream.
In the name of major storage project alias ‘User Right’, now India and its corporate masterminds will generate power even more than the stipulated 70,000 MWs to feed its evergrowing greed. In the national forum, mega dams are projected as ‘multi-purpose hydro-projects’. In the international forum, major storage projects will be showcased in the name of ‘User Right’ of India. It’s the formula of “Old wine in New bottle”, to fool north-eastern states and the world.
Security forces recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives in Cachar district on Saturday.
These were seized from a house during a joint search operation at Harinadik village under Badarpur circle in Karimganj. During the search operation, the team recovered a country-made carbine weapon and two packets of suspected Improvised Explosive Device connected with wires from the house of Abdul Rouf and Mujibur Rahman. Later, recovered arms were handed over to the police for necessary action.
A stunned Cachar district administration discussed the situation prevailing in the Bhuvan Valley Tea Garden after reports of starvation deaths.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has asked additional Chief Secretary P K Choudhury to to conduct an inquiry into the alleged starvation deaths. Joint Director from health department Dr Bijoylakshmi Das who visited the affected tea garden said in the meeting that mostly aged people have died and many residents of the garden were suffering from malnutrition.
The garden administration refused to divulge the name of the owners of the estate and the Additional Chief Secretary issued directives that the names of the owners should be immediately provided...
The Garo National Liberation Army has released a senior State Bank of India official they kidnapped on February in East Garo Hills on Saturday.
According to information, the SBI assistant general manager VK Gupta was freed in Krishnai in Goalpara district 17 days after he was was kidnapped by four unidentified men from the Chotamatia area.
VK Gupta was kidnapped on February 20 while he was on his way to Assam after auditing at the bank's Mendipathar branch.
The Board of Secondary Education, Assam on Saturday revised the schedule for the on gong HSLC examination hours after the question paper anomalies in Nalbari district.
In a statement, the Board has informed that the general science examination would be held on March 26 instead of March 10.
Notably, a section of examinees in Samota HS School on Saturday received question papers of general science instead of social science. The SEBA has further ordered a probe into it and suspended the officer in charge of the examination Centre.
Suspected KPLT militants kidnapped Assam Chief Conservator of Forest Abhijit Rabha with a range officer on Saturday in Karbi Anglong district. The militants have demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore for their safe release.
According to information, Rabha was leading a delegation of 60 members to the Singhasan Hills to conduct a forest department survey on February 27. Some of them returned on February 29.
The incident took place when the remaining 30 members were returning on Saturday after they were stopped by six armed KPLT militants at Borlag.
The two officers were abducted while the rest to leave, the SP added. The militants later sent a message demanding a ransom of Rs one crore for...
Over ten local organizations in Dibrugarh have threatened to stop the gas cracker works if the CISF personnel responsible for Friday firing escapes action within 36 hours.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has already asked additional deputy commissioner PK Rajkhowa to probe the incident of firing where a worker died and three others have been injured when CISF personnel opened fire to disperse a group of striking workers at the project gate. A compensation of Rs 2 lakh would also be paid to the next of kin of the person killed and job provided to one member of the victim’s family in the project. Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi and Labour Minister Prithbi Majhi have rushed to the...
Security forces in Dibrugarh district seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition were on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, troops of 18 Jat Regiment conducted a search operation at Kochunio village and recovered the arms from an abandoned house. The arms recovered include two pistols, three grenades, one revolver, explosives and several rounds of ammunition.
The situation in Lepetkota is still on the boil a day after a worker died in firing.
Thousands of workers are striking work on Saturday demanding action against the CISF personnel responsible for the shoot out where a worker died and three others sustained injury. The authorities at the BCPL project site have been trying to reach the agitating workers who have been refusing to resume work.
The severed head found in Kamakhya has been identified as Mujibur Rahman who was remaining traceless for the last couple of days. He was missing on his way to his wife in Sipajhar. The remaining part of his body has yet to be recovered.
Two persons sustained bullet injury at a sensational incident of robbery in Jorhat on Saturday. The incident took place at around 1PM at the Chinamora Level Crossing near the town when two armed youths opened fire at a Bolero vehicle on its way to a tea garden with an amount of Rs 11 lakh.
After halting the vehicle the miscreants looted the entire amount brought for disbursing the labourer payments at the Kharikotiya Tea Estate. Then they fled from the spot. Accounts officer of the tea garden and the driver were rushed to the Jorhat Medical College Hospital.
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