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.
A 50 member special contingent of special security unit has left for Kaziranga to counter the poachers who have already killed more than 15 rhinos. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi flagged off the team at a function in Guwahati on Tuesday. Handing over SLRs to the members before leaving for Kaziranga, Gogoi hoped that the special team would help the park authorities to efficiently deal with the poachers.
Abhijit Baruah set multiple record on his hectic Sunday when the longest barefoot runner arrived in Jhanji in Sivasagar district on foot within four hours. Then he left for Sivasagar via Bhatiapar and went back to Jorhat by bicycle within three hours. He showed 20 push ups at the prowling Jorhat Stadium. This was followed by his 200 KM barefoot race with 40 KG weight. IBR observer handed over a certificate to Baruah after the events were properly recorded.
A rhino is battling for life after poachers left it dehorned in the Kaziranga National Park. A team of veterinarians finds it quite difficult to keep the profusely bleeding rhino alive. The efforts are not expected to keep the animal alive which lost a vital organ. The park authorities have restricted entry of media people.
AGP on Sunday resolved to take a stand against construction of big dams in the state and came out against the proposed Brahmaputra River Valley Authority.
Party president Prafulla Kumar Mahant said in Lakhimpur that the BRVA would not solve any issue and will in fact be a non-starter. Mahanta also called for immediate steps to solve the issue of illegal immigrants, besides asking the government to commence work on updating the National Register of Citizens and for implementation of all the clauses of the Assam Accord.
More and more media houses may be driven by the business interest, but at the end of the day the media should not miss its missionary character. More over, the media house owners should not engage the media space only for its profit sacrificing the media’s immense social responsibilities, commented His Excellency Bharat Vir Wanchoo, Governor of Goa. Inaugurating the 9th Annual South Asia Media Summit 2012 at The International Centre Goa, Dona Paula- Goa today morning the Governor also added that irrespective of increasing challenges, the media should continue its presence in the society as a watch dog and conscience keeper.
Organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) India in...
Petroleum dealers across the state operate in a single shift from Monday. The petrol depots would be operating from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening. The decision was taken to press for their demands on payment of commission as per the cost-based structure as recommended by Apoorva Chandra Committee.
The petroleum dealers in Assam and other north eastern states will operate only one shift in order to cut costs. They said that there has been no revision in commission for past two years. In these years, the cost of operations and investments have gone up substantially.
The Nilotpal Lahan death case takes a new twist on Saturday when his mother lodged a complaint before police claiming it a conspiracy.
Lahon’s mother Nilima Lahon on Saturday filed and FIR before Jalukbari police station to investigate her son’s mysterious death near the Kamakhya temple recently. Notably, initial investigation called it a case of suicide.
Abhijit Baruah on Saturday set yet another record. The pride of Assam punched 300 times at a pair of punching pads within a record single minute. The historic deed took place at the Jorhat Stadium in the morning in presence of observers of India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records. He required only 150 times within the timeframe to be eligible for a claim in the Guinness World Records as there was no such global record in the category.
Just after 72 hours of two high profile visits to Kaziranga National Park, one by Union Environmental Minister Jayanti Natrajan and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the other by state Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain, the silence of KNP was broken once again by the booming of gun. All the assurance of providing safety to the wildlife of KNP especially to the rare one horned rhino fell flat as poachers gunned down a rhino and dehorned it. The incident took place at around 1 pm between Sohola and Duramari forest camp under Agoratoli range. The poacher brutally severed the horn from the bullet ridden rhino and let it to languish. Till the filing of this report the rhino is struggling for...
Guinness World Record holder Abhijit Baruah will attempt eight more records in different events this weekend. The immediate one is slated for Sunday. The attempts by the Assam policeman on both days are organised by the Great Run Club. The whole event with each moment was recorded and all the necessary guidelines of the Guinness World Records was followed and formalities were observed to make a claim in the record book.
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