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.
Guwahati : Unidentified militants abducted Mr. Anirudha Tanti from Hirajuli Tea Estate last night. Anirudha is the son of Ex MLA and senior congress leader Bhimananda Tanti. He is an Assistant Manager of the Tea Estate. Anirudha was on the way to his official quarter, when he was abducted. Family member filed an FIR about his abduction this evening. Tanti is also the Vice President of Assam Chah Majdoor Sangha. Police are yet to confirm who is behind this kidnapping. Anirudha is about 35 years old.
Guwahati: All people forcefully chucked out from Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh are Indian citizens according to the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. " I want to make it very clear that government have verified their cases and it has been found that they are all India citizens"- He said in a press conference held at the Secretariat conference hall. He also informed that Government would publish a list of names of those persons along with their address so that people can know whether they are Indian citizens or foreigners. He also reiterated that the Government will not allow making Assam a dumping ground of foreigners. Government had also decided to constitute committees consisting...
Guwahati: Nearly half a crore/five million people were displaced in devastating flood in Assam. According to 2001 census, the total population of Assam is 2, 66, 38, 407 and floods have displaced about one fifth of the total population. Total 24 districts out of 27 have been hit by outpouring and 3967 villages ravaged, says the Assam Government in an official communiqué. Number of total displaced up to Tuesday morning was 44, 19, 792 but as heavy rain continues the number of people affected are going up rapidly. Though government claims only 15 lives were lost during second spate of flood starting sicne12 July, local news paper published from Guwahati claimed it to be 29 quoting...
Lakhimpur: The flood situation in the North Bank of Assam mainly the Dhemaji district has turned critical once again. Flash Floods in Ronganodi breached a vital dyke in four places of Lahimpur cutting off parts of Lakhimpur district and Dhemaji from the rest of Assam. The temporary Bailey bridge constructed by the Army for connecting Dhemaji has also been damaged once again by floods. Reports have just come in on Friday morning that four more embankments have been washed. The silver lining is that no causalities have been reported so far and there is no shortage of essential commodities as well.Meanwhile the Brahmaputra is reported to be rising in various parts of the State.Puthimari river...
Guwahati: Ceasefire with National Socialist Council of Nagaland has been extended for an indefinite period. A meeting was held at Circuit House, Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland on Tuesday between the representative of NSCN (IM) and Govt. of India where it was decided to extend the ceasefire indefinitely. While NSCN President Isaac Chichi Swu and General secretary Th. Muivah led the hostile side, Union Labor Minister Oscar Fernandez and interlocutor K Padmanavaiah represented the Govt. of India. Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Lal and Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs Naveen Verma were among others in the delegation that assisted the minister. NSCN is a pioneer militant...
New Delhi: Networking major Cisco Systems has launched two new certificate courses (of 280 hours duration each) under the Cisco Networking Academy brand, primarily targeting entry-level jobseekers. Part of the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) programme, the two courses CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration will focus on applied skills and technical depth respectively. Ms Sandy Walsh, Regional Manager, Education Programmes and Corporate Responsibility, Cisco - Asia Pacific said that Cisco wanted to “increase the talent pool of candidates with networking skills”. According to an IDC report, India is expected to have a shortage of over 86,300 networking professionals this...
Barpeta: Tragic stories have started pouring in from various parts of the State as floods in Assam continue unabated for the umpteenth day today. An elder lady, Sukhla Boro of Pathsala Balapar village of Barpeta who died due to cardiac arrest was flooded into the Brahmaputra river by her hapless relatives as there was no place to cremate her due to floods and water all around.
Dibrugarh: Dibrugarh Police have recovered a large amount of explosives from Namrup Twenty Four kg TNT explosives were recovered on Sunday night and four people including a woman have been arrested.Police suspect that the explosives were dumped to set off a series of explosions on Independence Day on 15th of August.It may be mentioned that TNT is a very powerful explosive and only 400 grams is sufficient to destroy an aircraft.
Guwahati : The All Assam Students Union( AASU) and the All Minority Students Union(AMSU) are exchanged in a bitter war of words.In a press conference at Guwahati on Saturday, The AMSU Organising Secretary Ajijul Hussain Khondakar, chief organizing secretary of AAMSU had criticised the AASU Adviser, Sammujal Bhattacharya as a Congress stooge and also warned of a backlash against the Asomiya community in the minority dominated districts of Dhubri and Goalpara.AASU central leaders as well as the Anchalik Units have come down strongly against these statements and they have issued strong warning to the AAMSU to abstain from such dangerous statements. AGP and BJP have strongly criticised the AMSU...
New Delhi: Cotton College may soon become a deemed university. This was informed by the Cotton College General Secretary, Samiran Baishya.A delegation of the Cotton College Students Union had recently visited New Delhi and met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Prime Minister has assured them that he would personally look into the matter and recommend the case to the University Grants Commission (UGC).Cotton College is the oldest Institution in Northeast India. It was established in 1901. The demand to make Cotton College a deemed university has been in existence from 1980.Leading academicians have welcomed the move
Comments
Pages
Add new comment