२४ फरवरी २०१२ को बिहार के पटना विश्वविद्यालय के द्वारा आयोजित सेमिनार में भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् के माननीय अध्यक्ष नयायमूर्ति मार्कंडेय काटजू को वक्तव्य के दौरान सत्तारूढ़ दल की विधायक के प्राचार्य -पति के द्वारा असभ्य तरीके से रोकने की कोशिश गौरवशाली बिहार की गरिमा के विरुद्ध है .पटना विश्वविद्यालय की अंगीभूत इकाई पटना कॉलेज के प्राचार्य लालकेश्वर सिंह के द्वारा विश्वविद्यालय के कुलाधिपति -राज्यपाल ,कुलपति की उपस्थिति में न्यायमूर्ति काटजू को जोर आवाज़ में रोकने से मना करने की कोशिश लोकतान्त्रिक और संवैधानिक गरिमा के विरुद्ध है .बिहार के इतिहास में यह शर्मनाक घटना है ,जब प्रदेश के गौरवशाली विश्वविद्यालय में विश्वविद्यालय के मुख्य अतिथि को विश्वविद्यालय के एक प्राचार्य के अशोभनीय आचरण का सामना करना पड़ा हो .यह घटना इस तथ्य को उजागर करता है कि अगर बिहार में भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् के अध्यक्ष बोलने की आज़ादी नहीं रखते हें तो आम आदमी और मीडिया को अभिव्यक्ति की कितनी स्वतंत्रता प्राप्त है.
भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् के न्यायमूर्ति अध्यक्ष के अपमान की घटना को नीतीश सरकार के द्वारा गंभीरता से नहीं लेना और दोषी प्राचार्य के विरुद्ध कार्रवाई की बजाय उप -मुख्यमंत्री सुशील कु मोदी और शिवानन्द तिवारी नामक सत्ताधारी सांसद के द्वारा न्यायमूर्ति काटजू के विरुद्ध बदले की भाषा में की जा रही बयानबाजी आपत्तिजनक और निंदनीय है .जाँच का विषय है कि २५ फरवरी २०१२ को पटना विश्वविद्यालय में आइसा के छात्र नेताओं पर हुई बमबाजी के तार क्या न्यायमूर्ति काटजू का अपमान करनेवाले प्राचार्य से जुड़े हें ...?
देश के तमाम पत्रकार संगठनो ,वरिष्ठ पत्रकारों ,न्यायप्रिय बुद्धिजीविओं को इस घटना को गंभीरता से लेना चाहिए. भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् पत्रकारिता को दिशा -निर्देश देनेवाली देश की सर्वोच्च शक्तिशाली संवैधानिक संस्था है. बिहार में भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् के अध्यक्ष को बोलने से रोकने की कोशिश संपूर्ण पत्रकारिता बिरादरी और अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता में विश्वास रखनेवाले नागरिक समूह का अपमान है.
हम बिहार के कुलाधिपति सह राज्यपाल से उनकी उपस्थिति में घटित अशोभनीय घटना के दोषी प्राचार्य के विरुद्ध तत्काल सख्त कार्रवाई की मांग करते हुए बिहार के उपमुख्यमंत्री और सांसद के बयानों की भर्त्सना करते हें .भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् ने बिहार की सत्तापरस्त पत्रकारिता की भूमिका की पड़ताल करने के लिए जाँच -कमिटी गठित की है . भारतीय पत्रकारिता के इतिहास में यह बड़ी घटना है ,जब किसी खास मीडिया समूह की बजाय संपूर्ण प्रदेश की पत्रकारिता की पड़ताल करने के लिए एक संवैधानिक जाँच आयोग का गठन किया गया हो .भारतीय प्रेस परिषद् के इस कदम का हम स्वागत करते हें.
पुष्पराज (जनांदोलनो के पत्रकार और नंदीग्राम डायरी के लेखक ),अमरनाथ (वरिष्ठ पत्रकार )
गोपाल कृष्ण (पत्रकार,पर्यावरणविद ),हसन इमाम (सचिव ,प्रेरणा एवं वरिष्ठ रंगकर्मी )
चिन्मयानन्द (पत्रकार )राजेंद्र राजन (महासचिव ,प्रगतिशील लेखक संघ ,बिहार ),शशिसागर(पत्रकार )
डॉ मीरा दत्ता (संपादक ,तलाश )
गुलरेज शहजाद (शायर ),रेसू वर्मा (पत्रकार ).कृष्णा (हैदराबाद विश्वविद्यालय में शोधार्थी ),निर्भय दिव्यांशु (पत्रकार ),इरफ़ान (अध्यक्ष होकर फेड्रेसन बिहार )
डॉ नंदकिशोर नंदन (कवि ),विनिताभ(कवि ) ,निवेदिता (वरिष्ठ पत्रकार ),संतोष सारंग (पत्रकार ),रंजीव (नदी -पानी विशेषग्य ),संजीव शांति मेहता (फिल्म निर्माता ),दीनानाथ सुमित्र (कवि ),सुनीता (शोधार्थी पत्रकार ),रविन्द्र भारती (कवि ),
स्वतंत्र मिश्र (पत्रकार ),हसन इमाम (सचिव ,प्रेरणा एवं वरिष्ठ रंगकर्मी ),रंजीत (पत्रकार ),राघव शरण शर्मा (वरिष्ठ लेखक )
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Bihar Budget anti-environment & against public health
Press Release
Bihar Budget anti-environment & against public health
Fails to adopt holistic land-water policy & abandon hazardous asbestos factories
Patna/27/2/2012: Bihar Budget reveals that Bihar Government has failed to adopt a state land-water policy but it is adopting such land-water related projects that will rupture rivers basins. While the ecologically disastrous plan to rewrite geography of Bihar unfolded in Patna on February 24 with the presentation of Bihar Budget for 2012-13 through its scheme of interlinking of rivers is extremely worrying, passivity of Bihar's citizenry in the face of such proposal is a matter of grave concern.
When the river basins are disrupted through diversion of rivers, budgetary provisions of Rs 1200 crore for agriculture is of no consequence.
On page no. 18 of the 82 page budget speech delivered in Hindi, it is mentioned that Detailed Project Report (DPR) the links in South Bihar namely, Dhanraje-Phulwaria link, Sakari-Nata link is under preparation and in 2012-13, the work on latter link can be started. Under the interlinking of rivers project, 13th Finance Commission has approved Rs 333 crore for Burhi-Gandak -None-Baya- Ganga link. The work is planned to start in the financial year 2012-13.
As per Bihar government's plan, the proposed links include: 1. Kosi – Mechi, 2. Barh – Nawada, 3. Kohra – Chandravat (Lalbegi), 4. Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga Burhi Gandak 5. Bagmati [Belwadhar]and 6. Kosi – Ganga. The pre-feasibility report of Kosi – Mechi, Kohra – Chandravat (Lalbegi) and Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga has been completed and sent to the state government.
It must be noted that Union Minister for Water Resources, Pawan Kumar Bansal had informed the Rajya Sabha on September 5, 2011 that National Water Development Agency (NWDA) "has taken up works for preparation of DPR of 2 intra state links namely Kosi-Mechi Link and Burhi-Gandak -None-Baya- Ganga link of Bihar. He also informed that NWDA was set up under the Union Ministry of Water Resources "in 1982 for carrying out various technical studies to establish the feasibility of the proposals of for National Prospective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of Rivers and to give concrete shape to them." But by not informing the Rajya Sabha that National Prospective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of Rivers was rejected in September 1999 by a high powered National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Management, the minister chose to keep the august house in dark. In October 2002 even the then Chief Justice of India was misled into passing seemingly executive orders for the execution of interlinking of rivers because the recommendations of the Report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development was not brought to his notice.
Both Modi and Bansal feign ignorance about the relevant recommendations of the two volume Report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development set up by the Union Ministry of Water Resources. Volume-I of the report says: “The Himalayan river linking data is not freely available, but on the basis of public information, it appears that the Himalayan river linking component is not feasible for the period of review up to 2050.” The report underlines that the problems are in the entire plan of linking the Himalayan rivers. It also shows that centre and the state government refuse to learn from the embankment disaster and drainage crisis in the Kosi basin.
It is germane to note that out of 30 links in the controversial national plan to network rivers through diversion there are six links in the Himalayan component which were related to Bihar, one of which has been rejected by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its study on “Economic Impact of Interlinking of Rivers Programme” in April 2008. These six links are: Kosi-Mechi Link Canal, Kosi-Ghaghara Link Canal, Sone dam-Southern tributaries of Ganga Link Canal, Chunar-Sone Barrage Link Canal, Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal and Gandak-Ganga Canal. Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal has been dropped as per NCAER study.
As per the 10th Plan document, there were 1,300 irrigation projects that have been taken up for implementation, out of which, only 900 have actually been completed. Even Jairam Ramesh who later became Union Environment Minister and currently the Union Rural Development Minister contended in the Rajya Sabha saying, "in this country today, there are 400 irrigation projects being implemented at some critical levels of financing, and I think, really this reinforces the point that I want to make that it is really project implementation, projects under implementation, that need to be completed. You don't need a new category called 'projects under contemplation'". Both state and central project are 'projects under contemplation'. It seems to be a political escape route akin to Ostrich policy instead of proposing decentralized and workable projects with public consent.
The fact is that interlinking of rivers project is based on the flawed assumption that there are surplus and deficit rivers. It is claimed that 220 bcm of water can be usefully transferred. As per 11th Five Year Plan document, "there are apprehensions that the assessed surplus is somewhat illusory for many basins and future generations would actually need all the water." It takes congnisance of "reservations about the economic viability of such large projects. Environmental concerns would need to be addressed through the environmental appraisal process of each project."
This document reveals that "For the implementation of such a mega project, an authority may have to be set up akin to the National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) with full autonomy for raising loan, approvals, etc." This poses a threat to "sound federalism" and good relations with neighboring countries.
Unmindful of this Bihar government is committing the ecological sin of pursuing the path of diverting rivers for interlinking them.
In the central proposal of Kosi-Mechi Link Canal there will be a 112.55 km. long canal that will mainly pass through the "Terai" area in Nepal. It will start from the left side of Chatra barrage and fall into Mechi river after crossing over three small rivers Bakra, Ratuwa and Kankai through syphon aqueduct. The canal's receiving capacity will be 1407.80 cubic metre per second (cumec) and discharge rate will be 97.64 cumec. The canal would provide irrigational facility to 4.74 lakh hectares of land. Out of this, 1.75 lakh hectares shall be irrigated in Nepal and 2.99 lakh hectares in Bihar. Besides this, provision of 24 MCM water has been made for domestic and industrial requirements of the towns falling in between. As proposed, it would divert 883 MCM water at the rate of 28 cumec to Mechi river for increasing the water in Mahananda river. The canal would also provide navigational facility from Chatra to Ganga via Mechi and Mahananda rivers.
In the Kosi-Ghaghara Link Canal, there will be 428.76 km long canal, which will start from the right side of the Chatra barrage, will fall in Gaura river, a tributary of Chaghara river, in Uttar Pradesh after crossing over Tiljuga, Khanro, Bagmati and Lalbakkeya rivers in Nepal and Gandak river in Bihar. The canal's receiving capacity will be 1021 cumecs while it will discharge 67 cumec in Gaura river. The total benefited area through this link canals is 10.58 lakh hectares. Out of this, 1.74 lakh hectare area shall be of Udaipur, Saptari, Mahoitari, Sarlahi and Bara districts in Nepal and 8.17 lakh hectare and 0.67 lakh hectare area of North Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. The canal would also provide 48 MCM water for domestic and industrial requirements of the towns on its way.
In Sone dam-Southern tributaries of Ganga Link Canal there will be a 339 km long canal will begin from the right side of the proposed dam across Sone river near Kadwan in Jharkhand. The canal would fall into Badua river after crossing over Morhar, Lilajan, Dharmajayi, Sakri and Kiul rivers. Two hydal projects of 3.5 MW and 1.5 MW capacities would be finalised near the junction of Sakri river. The total benefited area through this canal will be 3.07 lakh hectares in the districts of Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, Jehanabad, Munger, Bhagalpur, Nawada, Jamui and Aurangabad of Bihar and Palamu district of Jharkhand.
In the Chunar-Sone Barrage Link Canal there will be a 149.10 km long canal will start from the right side of Ganga river near Chunar Tehsil of Mirzapur district in UP. It will fall into Sone river near Indrapuri barrage in Rohtas district. There would be a lift of 38.8 meters, 16.10 meters and 4.4 meters at three different places on route. In addition to taking over substantial command areas of Western Sone High Level and low level canals, this link canal will provide irrigation in 66,793 hectares of new area in Mirzapur, Varanasi and Gazipur districts of UP and Bhabhua, Rohtas, Buxar and Bhojpur districts of Bihar.
The Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal which was proposed by Union Water Resources Ministry has been rejected by the NCAER.
In the Gandak-Ganga Canal, there will be a 639 km long canal, which would start from the right side of the proposed dam across Gandak river in Nepal, will fall in Ganga river near Mustafabad in Rai Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh. It will run through Nepal and various districts of Uttar Pradesh. Though this canal would not cross through Bihar it would make a big impact on the State by taming the flood waters of Gandak. There will be no irrigational facility in Bihar from this canal.
Continued refusal to learn from Kosi embankment blunders that has led to unprecedented drainage crisis has resulted in creation of more embankments on Bagmati. The budget speech of Sushil Kumar Modi Bihar's Finance Minister does not reveal that he is also the Environment Minister. It would have been better to allocate greater portion of budget for Water Resources Department i.e. Rs 2192.46 crore and Rs 100 crore for Environment and Forests Department for clearing the water logging in the Kosi basin and restoration of the drainage system that got disrupted due to fiddling with Himalayan rivers.
Instead of stopping ecologically insensitive sand mining in the rivers and stone quarrying in the hills, the constitution of inter ministerial sub-committee has been announced for the former in the budget and as far as the latter is concerned while there were promises made to stop .
In the last year's budget, land was allocated for hazardous asbestos based industries which is banned in 55 countries. Despite the fact that bitter resistance of villagers in Muzaffarpur led to winding up of a asbestos plant, finance minister who is also the environment minister has failed to revise his industrial policy in the matter of asbestos factories that has been set in Bhojpur and are proposed to set up in Vaishali, Madhubani and West Champaran illustrating that the government gives priority to lust for profit instead of public health. State govt should take note of Italian crimnal court's verdict of February 13, 2012 imprisoning asbestos company owners for causing environmental and health catastrophe. Given the fact that health is a state subject, it is high time the government banned asbestos and set a precedent for others to follow.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance, Mb: 7739308480, 09818089660, E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com
Bihar Budget anti-environment & against public health
Fails to adopt holistic land-water policy & abandon hazardous asbestos factories
Patna/27/2/2012: Bihar Budget reveals that Bihar Government has failed to adopt a state land-water policy but it is adopting such land-water related projects that will rupture rivers basins. While the ecologically disastrous plan to rewrite geography of Bihar unfolded in Patna on February 24 with the presentation of Bihar Budget for 2012-13 through its scheme of interlinking of rivers is extremely worrying, passivity of Bihar's citizenry in the face of such proposal is a matter of grave concern.
When the river basins are disrupted through diversion of rivers, budgetary provisions of Rs 1200 crore for agriculture is of no consequence.
On page no. 18 of the 82 page budget speech delivered in Hindi, it is mentioned that Detailed Project Report (DPR) the links in South Bihar namely, Dhanraje-Phulwaria link, Sakari-Nata link is under preparation and in 2012-13, the work on latter link can be started. Under the interlinking of rivers project, 13th Finance Commission has approved Rs 333 crore for Burhi-Gandak -None-Baya- Ganga link. The work is planned to start in the financial year 2012-13.
As per Bihar government's plan, the proposed links include: 1. Kosi – Mechi, 2. Barh – Nawada, 3. Kohra – Chandravat (Lalbegi), 4. Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga Burhi Gandak 5. Bagmati [Belwadhar]and 6. Kosi – Ganga. The pre-feasibility report of Kosi – Mechi, Kohra – Chandravat (Lalbegi) and Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga has been completed and sent to the state government.
It must be noted that Union Minister for Water Resources, Pawan Kumar Bansal had informed the Rajya Sabha on September 5, 2011 that National Water Development Agency (NWDA) "has taken up works for preparation of DPR of 2 intra state links namely Kosi-Mechi Link and Burhi-Gandak -None-Baya- Ganga link of Bihar. He also informed that NWDA was set up under the Union Ministry of Water Resources "in 1982 for carrying out various technical studies to establish the feasibility of the proposals of for National Prospective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of Rivers and to give concrete shape to them." But by not informing the Rajya Sabha that National Prospective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of Rivers was rejected in September 1999 by a high powered National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Management, the minister chose to keep the august house in dark. In October 2002 even the then Chief Justice of India was misled into passing seemingly executive orders for the execution of interlinking of rivers because the recommendations of the Report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development was not brought to his notice.
Both Modi and Bansal feign ignorance about the relevant recommendations of the two volume Report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development set up by the Union Ministry of Water Resources. Volume-I of the report says: “The Himalayan river linking data is not freely available, but on the basis of public information, it appears that the Himalayan river linking component is not feasible for the period of review up to 2050.” The report underlines that the problems are in the entire plan of linking the Himalayan rivers. It also shows that centre and the state government refuse to learn from the embankment disaster and drainage crisis in the Kosi basin.
It is germane to note that out of 30 links in the controversial national plan to network rivers through diversion there are six links in the Himalayan component which were related to Bihar, one of which has been rejected by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its study on “Economic Impact of Interlinking of Rivers Programme” in April 2008. These six links are: Kosi-Mechi Link Canal, Kosi-Ghaghara Link Canal, Sone dam-Southern tributaries of Ganga Link Canal, Chunar-Sone Barrage Link Canal, Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal and Gandak-Ganga Canal. Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal has been dropped as per NCAER study.
As per the 10th Plan document, there were 1,300 irrigation projects that have been taken up for implementation, out of which, only 900 have actually been completed. Even Jairam Ramesh who later became Union Environment Minister and currently the Union Rural Development Minister contended in the Rajya Sabha saying, "in this country today, there are 400 irrigation projects being implemented at some critical levels of financing, and I think, really this reinforces the point that I want to make that it is really project implementation, projects under implementation, that need to be completed. You don't need a new category called 'projects under contemplation'". Both state and central project are 'projects under contemplation'. It seems to be a political escape route akin to Ostrich policy instead of proposing decentralized and workable projects with public consent.
The fact is that interlinking of rivers project is based on the flawed assumption that there are surplus and deficit rivers. It is claimed that 220 bcm of water can be usefully transferred. As per 11th Five Year Plan document, "there are apprehensions that the assessed surplus is somewhat illusory for many basins and future generations would actually need all the water." It takes congnisance of "reservations about the economic viability of such large projects. Environmental concerns would need to be addressed through the environmental appraisal process of each project."
This document reveals that "For the implementation of such a mega project, an authority may have to be set up akin to the National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) with full autonomy for raising loan, approvals, etc." This poses a threat to "sound federalism" and good relations with neighboring countries.
Unmindful of this Bihar government is committing the ecological sin of pursuing the path of diverting rivers for interlinking them.
In the central proposal of Kosi-Mechi Link Canal there will be a 112.55 km. long canal that will mainly pass through the "Terai" area in Nepal. It will start from the left side of Chatra barrage and fall into Mechi river after crossing over three small rivers Bakra, Ratuwa and Kankai through syphon aqueduct. The canal's receiving capacity will be 1407.80 cubic metre per second (cumec) and discharge rate will be 97.64 cumec. The canal would provide irrigational facility to 4.74 lakh hectares of land. Out of this, 1.75 lakh hectares shall be irrigated in Nepal and 2.99 lakh hectares in Bihar. Besides this, provision of 24 MCM water has been made for domestic and industrial requirements of the towns falling in between. As proposed, it would divert 883 MCM water at the rate of 28 cumec to Mechi river for increasing the water in Mahananda river. The canal would also provide navigational facility from Chatra to Ganga via Mechi and Mahananda rivers.
In the Kosi-Ghaghara Link Canal, there will be 428.76 km long canal, which will start from the right side of the Chatra barrage, will fall in Gaura river, a tributary of Chaghara river, in Uttar Pradesh after crossing over Tiljuga, Khanro, Bagmati and Lalbakkeya rivers in Nepal and Gandak river in Bihar. The canal's receiving capacity will be 1021 cumecs while it will discharge 67 cumec in Gaura river. The total benefited area through this link canals is 10.58 lakh hectares. Out of this, 1.74 lakh hectare area shall be of Udaipur, Saptari, Mahoitari, Sarlahi and Bara districts in Nepal and 8.17 lakh hectare and 0.67 lakh hectare area of North Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. The canal would also provide 48 MCM water for domestic and industrial requirements of the towns on its way.
In Sone dam-Southern tributaries of Ganga Link Canal there will be a 339 km long canal will begin from the right side of the proposed dam across Sone river near Kadwan in Jharkhand. The canal would fall into Badua river after crossing over Morhar, Lilajan, Dharmajayi, Sakri and Kiul rivers. Two hydal projects of 3.5 MW and 1.5 MW capacities would be finalised near the junction of Sakri river. The total benefited area through this canal will be 3.07 lakh hectares in the districts of Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, Jehanabad, Munger, Bhagalpur, Nawada, Jamui and Aurangabad of Bihar and Palamu district of Jharkhand.
In the Chunar-Sone Barrage Link Canal there will be a 149.10 km long canal will start from the right side of Ganga river near Chunar Tehsil of Mirzapur district in UP. It will fall into Sone river near Indrapuri barrage in Rohtas district. There would be a lift of 38.8 meters, 16.10 meters and 4.4 meters at three different places on route. In addition to taking over substantial command areas of Western Sone High Level and low level canals, this link canal will provide irrigation in 66,793 hectares of new area in Mirzapur, Varanasi and Gazipur districts of UP and Bhabhua, Rohtas, Buxar and Bhojpur districts of Bihar.
The Brahmaputra - Ganga (Manas- Sankosh- Teesta- Ganga Link Canal which was proposed by Union Water Resources Ministry has been rejected by the NCAER.
In the Gandak-Ganga Canal, there will be a 639 km long canal, which would start from the right side of the proposed dam across Gandak river in Nepal, will fall in Ganga river near Mustafabad in Rai Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh. It will run through Nepal and various districts of Uttar Pradesh. Though this canal would not cross through Bihar it would make a big impact on the State by taming the flood waters of Gandak. There will be no irrigational facility in Bihar from this canal.
Continued refusal to learn from Kosi embankment blunders that has led to unprecedented drainage crisis has resulted in creation of more embankments on Bagmati. The budget speech of Sushil Kumar Modi Bihar's Finance Minister does not reveal that he is also the Environment Minister. It would have been better to allocate greater portion of budget for Water Resources Department i.e. Rs 2192.46 crore and Rs 100 crore for Environment and Forests Department for clearing the water logging in the Kosi basin and restoration of the drainage system that got disrupted due to fiddling with Himalayan rivers.
Instead of stopping ecologically insensitive sand mining in the rivers and stone quarrying in the hills, the constitution of inter ministerial sub-committee has been announced for the former in the budget and as far as the latter is concerned while there were promises made to stop .
In the last year's budget, land was allocated for hazardous asbestos based industries which is banned in 55 countries. Despite the fact that bitter resistance of villagers in Muzaffarpur led to winding up of a asbestos plant, finance minister who is also the environment minister has failed to revise his industrial policy in the matter of asbestos factories that has been set in Bhojpur and are proposed to set up in Vaishali, Madhubani and West Champaran illustrating that the government gives priority to lust for profit instead of public health. State govt should take note of Italian crimnal court's verdict of February 13, 2012 imprisoning asbestos company owners for causing environmental and health catastrophe. Given the fact that health is a state subject, it is high time the government banned asbestos and set a precedent for others to follow.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance, Mb: 7739308480, 09818089660, E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com
Magadh Mahila College Interrogates State on Violation of Human Rights
A National Seminar on "State: Protector or Violator of Human Rights" was organised during February 25-26, 2012 by Department of Political Science, Magadh Mahila College, in collaboration with PG Department of Political Science, Patna University.
Among others it was addressed by luminaries like Dr B D Sharma, well known expert on tribal issues. Gopal Krishna, a human rights and environmental health researcher spoke in the session on "Judiciary as protector -violator of human rights" which was chaired by Justice Rekha Kumari, ex-Judge Patna High Court. He cited the verdict of Indian Supreme Court in the case of Baba Ramdev wherein both Delhi Police which assaulted his followers who were asleep and Baba Ramdev were indicted. The verdict referred to Right to Sleep as a fundamental right but added that it did not apply to the homeless. Referring to court's sad verdict in the Bhopal Disaster case, he argued that the judiciary does violate human rights. He drew the attention towards the judgment of Supreme Court of Philippines which has rejected the UID/NPR/MNIC like projects that has been abandoned in China, UK, Australia and USA but in India it is being implemented without legal remedy although India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has deemed it illegal. Underlining the relevance of judgments in US Supreme Court, he criticized its approval of unlimited electoral spending by companies as part of their freedom of expression. In India, Companies Bill, 2011 is doing the same in installments. He also referred to US Supreme Court's concern and deliberations on the power of the state to put a GPS device to track anyone without warrant as act of putting citizens under constant surveillance. He expressed his disappointment with the extremely pace of hearing by Delhi High Court in the waste to energy incinerator case as a result the toxic smoke has started entering houses, hospitals, schools etc. He wondered if the Goddess of Justice is blind, is she incapable of smelling the smoke too?.
Dr SP Singh, Registrar, Chanakya National Law University also addressed the issue besides Sikha Singh, advocate, Patna High Court.
Gopal Krishna also spoke in the session on "Violation of Human Rights in Insurgency-Affected Areas" wherein quoting Thomas Jefferson, one of framers of US constitution, he underlined that right to rebel and revolt is part of citizens residual power of revolution. Insurgency is rampant in areas which are rich in natural resources. He emphasized that as long as there is corporate funding of political parties violation of human rights in insurgency affected areas in particular and in other areas in general cannot be state. He warned against the emergence of a police state, a surveillance state in the name of 'development'. Citing statistics he countered the impression that 'development' era is unquestionably beneficial because India's share in world trade has reduced drastically in the last 300 years. The session was chaired by Neelmani, member, Bihar Human Rights Commission.
Pro Vice Chancellor J. P. Singh gave the valedictory address. D N Sahay, Chairman, A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna was the chief guest who argued that state cannot be a violator of human rights some individuals may be so. He concluded by saying that there should be zero tolerance towards violation of human rights. Prof Shashi Sharma, head, Dept. of Political Science explained that 'state' is invisible it becomes visible through its agencies and officials. Therefore, violation of human rights by officials and agencies will have to be deemed as violation by the state.
Among others it was addressed by luminaries like Dr B D Sharma, well known expert on tribal issues. Gopal Krishna, a human rights and environmental health researcher spoke in the session on "Judiciary as protector -violator of human rights" which was chaired by Justice Rekha Kumari, ex-Judge Patna High Court. He cited the verdict of Indian Supreme Court in the case of Baba Ramdev wherein both Delhi Police which assaulted his followers who were asleep and Baba Ramdev were indicted. The verdict referred to Right to Sleep as a fundamental right but added that it did not apply to the homeless. Referring to court's sad verdict in the Bhopal Disaster case, he argued that the judiciary does violate human rights. He drew the attention towards the judgment of Supreme Court of Philippines which has rejected the UID/NPR/MNIC like projects that has been abandoned in China, UK, Australia and USA but in India it is being implemented without legal remedy although India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has deemed it illegal. Underlining the relevance of judgments in US Supreme Court, he criticized its approval of unlimited electoral spending by companies as part of their freedom of expression. In India, Companies Bill, 2011 is doing the same in installments. He also referred to US Supreme Court's concern and deliberations on the power of the state to put a GPS device to track anyone without warrant as act of putting citizens under constant surveillance. He expressed his disappointment with the extremely pace of hearing by Delhi High Court in the waste to energy incinerator case as a result the toxic smoke has started entering houses, hospitals, schools etc. He wondered if the Goddess of Justice is blind, is she incapable of smelling the smoke too?.
Dr SP Singh, Registrar, Chanakya National Law University also addressed the issue besides Sikha Singh, advocate, Patna High Court.
Gopal Krishna also spoke in the session on "Violation of Human Rights in Insurgency-Affected Areas" wherein quoting Thomas Jefferson, one of framers of US constitution, he underlined that right to rebel and revolt is part of citizens residual power of revolution. Insurgency is rampant in areas which are rich in natural resources. He emphasized that as long as there is corporate funding of political parties violation of human rights in insurgency affected areas in particular and in other areas in general cannot be state. He warned against the emergence of a police state, a surveillance state in the name of 'development'. Citing statistics he countered the impression that 'development' era is unquestionably beneficial because India's share in world trade has reduced drastically in the last 300 years. The session was chaired by Neelmani, member, Bihar Human Rights Commission.
Pro Vice Chancellor J. P. Singh gave the valedictory address. D N Sahay, Chairman, A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna was the chief guest who argued that state cannot be a violator of human rights some individuals may be so. He concluded by saying that there should be zero tolerance towards violation of human rights. Prof Shashi Sharma, head, Dept. of Political Science explained that 'state' is invisible it becomes visible through its agencies and officials. Therefore, violation of human rights by officials and agencies will have to be deemed as violation by the state.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
ईरान को क्लीन चिट, अब खुद इजरायल की ओर शक की सुई!
नई दिल्ली। राजधानी दिल्ली में इजरायली राजनयिक की गाड़ी पर हमला किसने करवाया? इस हमले की साजिश कहां रची गई? धमाके के तीसरे दिन भी ये सवाल मुंह बाए खड़े हैं। आईबीएन7 को पता चला है कि देश की सबसे बड़ी खुफिया एजेंसी ने बैंकॉक से सरकार को एक गुप्त रिपोर्ट दी है। इस रिपोर्ट में बताया गया है कि दिल्ली का हमला एक गहरी अंतरराष्ट्रीय साजिश का नतीजा था और ये साजिश अमेरिका या इजरायल में ही रची गई। रिपोर्ट मिलने के बाद ही सरकार ने ईरान को इस मामले में क्लीन चिट दे दी है।
इस हमले के कुछ ही मिनट बाद इजरायल ने इसके लिए ईरान को जिम्मेदार ठहरा दिया था लेकिन जैसे-जैसे भारतीय एजेंसियों की जांच आगे बढ़ रही है, ईरान की शक्ल धुंधलाती जा रही है। खुद देश के विदेश मंत्री ने भी ईरान को क्लीन चिट दे दी है। खुफिया विभाग की बैंकॉक यूनिट की रिपोर्ट कहती है कि दिल्ली, बैंकॉक और जार्जिया के ब्लास्ट एक समान हैं। तीनों धमाकों में लो इंटेंसिटी बम का प्रयोग किया गया। तीनों धमाकों की साजिश इजराइल या अमेरिका में ही रची गई और तीनों जगहों पर लोकल लोगों ने ही इसे अंजाम दिलाया। तीनों ब्लास्ट का मकसद किसी को मारने का नहीं था। दिल्ली ब्लास्ट में बम को जानबूझकर ड्राइवर की तरफ लगाया गया ताकि इजरायली महिला राजनयिक को ज्यादा नुकसान न पहुंचे। विस्फोट का मकसद तबाही फैलाना नहीं था बल्कि भारत और कुछ देशों के बीच मनमुटाव पैदा कर संबंधित देश को अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर बदनाम करना था।
ईरान को क्लीन चिट, अब खुद इजरायल की ओर शक की सुई!
जांच में ये भी साफ हो गया है कि दिल्ली में इजरायली दूतावास की कार पर हमले से पहले कोई रेकी नहीं की गई। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जांच एजेंसी ने घटना से पहले और घटना के दिन उन सारे इलाकों में लगे सीसीटीवी कैमरों के फुटेज खंगाले हैं जिन-जिन इलाकों में राजनयिक की गाड़ी गई। इससे ये बात साफ हो गई कि कोई भी लाल मोटरसाइकिल पहले से उसका पीछा नहीं कर रही थी।
सवाल है कि भारत सरकार की ओर से ईरान को क्लीन चिट देना और भारतीय खुफिया एजेंसी की रिपोर्ट में ये कहना कि साजिश अमेरिका या खुद इजरायल में ही रची गई आखिर किस ओर इशारा कर रहा है? क्या वाकई ईरान के इन दावों में अब और दम आता दिख रहा है कि खुद इजरायल ने ये धमाका अपनी बदनाम सीक्रेट सर्विस मोसाद के जरिये करवाया? सूत्रों के मुताबिक जांच की सुई 15 दिन पहले हुई एक घटना की ओर मुड़ रही है।
15 दिन पहले खुफिया एजेंसी रॉ ने केरल के कोच्चि में इजरायल के एक दंपति को संदिग्ध गतिविधियों के लिए पकड़ा। पूछताछ के बाद उन्हें वापस इजरायल भेज दिया गया। ये पति-पत्नी कई महीने से यहां रह रहे थे और मकान के लिए बाजार दाम से कहीं ज्यादा किराया अदा कर रहे थे। शक ये था कि ये दंपति देश विरोधी गतिविधियां कर रहा था और इस काम में वहीं का एक शख्स इनका मददगार साबित हो रहा था। इजरायली दूतावास की गाड़ी पर बम से किए गए हमले से इस दंपति का कोई लेना-देना है या नहीं, इसकी जांच के लिए एक टीम को कोच्चि भेजा गया है।
गृह मंत्रालय के सूत्रों के मुताबिक केरल के अलावा जांच एजेंसियों की टीम महाराष्ट्र और उत्तर प्रदेश भी भेजी गई है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जो टीमें जांच के लिए भेजी गई हैं वो केरल में सक्रिय कई आतंकी संगठनों की छानबीन में लगी हैं। इसमें नेशनल डेमोक्रेटिक फ्रंट और इस्लामिक यूथ सेंटर का नाम सबसे ऊपर है। इन दोनों को सिमी नियंत्रित करती है। माना जा रहा है कि इन्हीं संगठनों से जुड़े लोगों ने इस हमले को अंजाम दिया। नाम तो लश्कर-ए-तैयबा का भी लिया जा रहा है। अकेले केरल में सिमी से जुड़े 12 आतंकी संगठन सक्रिय हैं। इनमें से दो तिरुवनंतपुरम, एक कोच्चि औऱ एक कोन्डोती और मल्लापुरम में है।
पहले भी इस बात के सबूत मिले हैं कि इजरायली खुफिया एजेंसी मोसाद इस्लामिक आतंकवाद के खिलाफ इस तरह के हथियार इस्तेमाल करता रहा है। फिलिस्तीन और दूसरे अरब देशों में इसके उदाहरण मिले हैं। शुरुआत में इसे काउंटर इंटेलिजेंस का तरीका माना जाता रहा लेकिन जानकारों की मानें तो ये मुमकिन है कि इस तरीके का इस्तेमाल कुछ खास मिशन के लिए भी किया जा सकता है।
विस्फोट के लिए इस्तेमाल केमिकल की जांच भी इसी थ्योरी की ओर इशारा करती है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जो सफेद केमिकल बम लपेटने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया गया था, वो दरअसल प्रेशर बम का हिस्सा था। प्रेशर बम का इस्तेमाल इजरायल में टैंक उड़ाने के लिए किया जाता है। उधर इजरायली दंपति की जांच कर रही खुफिया एजेंसियों के मुताबिक ये दोनों कई आतंकी संगठनों के संपर्क में भी थे। वैसे, गृह मंत्रालय अब तक कुछ भी कहने को तैयार नहीं है। लेकिन मंत्रालय इस बात से भी इंकार नहीं कर रहा कि ये काम अंतरारष्ट्रीय और स्थानीय संगठनों के गठजोड़ का नतीजा है।
http://khabar.ibnlive.in.com/news/67291/1
इस हमले के कुछ ही मिनट बाद इजरायल ने इसके लिए ईरान को जिम्मेदार ठहरा दिया था लेकिन जैसे-जैसे भारतीय एजेंसियों की जांच आगे बढ़ रही है, ईरान की शक्ल धुंधलाती जा रही है। खुद देश के विदेश मंत्री ने भी ईरान को क्लीन चिट दे दी है। खुफिया विभाग की बैंकॉक यूनिट की रिपोर्ट कहती है कि दिल्ली, बैंकॉक और जार्जिया के ब्लास्ट एक समान हैं। तीनों धमाकों में लो इंटेंसिटी बम का प्रयोग किया गया। तीनों धमाकों की साजिश इजराइल या अमेरिका में ही रची गई और तीनों जगहों पर लोकल लोगों ने ही इसे अंजाम दिलाया। तीनों ब्लास्ट का मकसद किसी को मारने का नहीं था। दिल्ली ब्लास्ट में बम को जानबूझकर ड्राइवर की तरफ लगाया गया ताकि इजरायली महिला राजनयिक को ज्यादा नुकसान न पहुंचे। विस्फोट का मकसद तबाही फैलाना नहीं था बल्कि भारत और कुछ देशों के बीच मनमुटाव पैदा कर संबंधित देश को अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर बदनाम करना था।
ईरान को क्लीन चिट, अब खुद इजरायल की ओर शक की सुई!
जांच में ये भी साफ हो गया है कि दिल्ली में इजरायली दूतावास की कार पर हमले से पहले कोई रेकी नहीं की गई। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जांच एजेंसी ने घटना से पहले और घटना के दिन उन सारे इलाकों में लगे सीसीटीवी कैमरों के फुटेज खंगाले हैं जिन-जिन इलाकों में राजनयिक की गाड़ी गई। इससे ये बात साफ हो गई कि कोई भी लाल मोटरसाइकिल पहले से उसका पीछा नहीं कर रही थी।
सवाल है कि भारत सरकार की ओर से ईरान को क्लीन चिट देना और भारतीय खुफिया एजेंसी की रिपोर्ट में ये कहना कि साजिश अमेरिका या खुद इजरायल में ही रची गई आखिर किस ओर इशारा कर रहा है? क्या वाकई ईरान के इन दावों में अब और दम आता दिख रहा है कि खुद इजरायल ने ये धमाका अपनी बदनाम सीक्रेट सर्विस मोसाद के जरिये करवाया? सूत्रों के मुताबिक जांच की सुई 15 दिन पहले हुई एक घटना की ओर मुड़ रही है।
15 दिन पहले खुफिया एजेंसी रॉ ने केरल के कोच्चि में इजरायल के एक दंपति को संदिग्ध गतिविधियों के लिए पकड़ा। पूछताछ के बाद उन्हें वापस इजरायल भेज दिया गया। ये पति-पत्नी कई महीने से यहां रह रहे थे और मकान के लिए बाजार दाम से कहीं ज्यादा किराया अदा कर रहे थे। शक ये था कि ये दंपति देश विरोधी गतिविधियां कर रहा था और इस काम में वहीं का एक शख्स इनका मददगार साबित हो रहा था। इजरायली दूतावास की गाड़ी पर बम से किए गए हमले से इस दंपति का कोई लेना-देना है या नहीं, इसकी जांच के लिए एक टीम को कोच्चि भेजा गया है।
गृह मंत्रालय के सूत्रों के मुताबिक केरल के अलावा जांच एजेंसियों की टीम महाराष्ट्र और उत्तर प्रदेश भी भेजी गई है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जो टीमें जांच के लिए भेजी गई हैं वो केरल में सक्रिय कई आतंकी संगठनों की छानबीन में लगी हैं। इसमें नेशनल डेमोक्रेटिक फ्रंट और इस्लामिक यूथ सेंटर का नाम सबसे ऊपर है। इन दोनों को सिमी नियंत्रित करती है। माना जा रहा है कि इन्हीं संगठनों से जुड़े लोगों ने इस हमले को अंजाम दिया। नाम तो लश्कर-ए-तैयबा का भी लिया जा रहा है। अकेले केरल में सिमी से जुड़े 12 आतंकी संगठन सक्रिय हैं। इनमें से दो तिरुवनंतपुरम, एक कोच्चि औऱ एक कोन्डोती और मल्लापुरम में है।
पहले भी इस बात के सबूत मिले हैं कि इजरायली खुफिया एजेंसी मोसाद इस्लामिक आतंकवाद के खिलाफ इस तरह के हथियार इस्तेमाल करता रहा है। फिलिस्तीन और दूसरे अरब देशों में इसके उदाहरण मिले हैं। शुरुआत में इसे काउंटर इंटेलिजेंस का तरीका माना जाता रहा लेकिन जानकारों की मानें तो ये मुमकिन है कि इस तरीके का इस्तेमाल कुछ खास मिशन के लिए भी किया जा सकता है।
विस्फोट के लिए इस्तेमाल केमिकल की जांच भी इसी थ्योरी की ओर इशारा करती है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक जो सफेद केमिकल बम लपेटने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया गया था, वो दरअसल प्रेशर बम का हिस्सा था। प्रेशर बम का इस्तेमाल इजरायल में टैंक उड़ाने के लिए किया जाता है। उधर इजरायली दंपति की जांच कर रही खुफिया एजेंसियों के मुताबिक ये दोनों कई आतंकी संगठनों के संपर्क में भी थे। वैसे, गृह मंत्रालय अब तक कुछ भी कहने को तैयार नहीं है। लेकिन मंत्रालय इस बात से भी इंकार नहीं कर रहा कि ये काम अंतरारष्ट्रीय और स्थानीय संगठनों के गठजोड़ का नतीजा है।
http://khabar.ibnlive.in.com/news/67291/1
Friday, February 17, 2012
Medha Patkar's Letter to National Commission for Minorities on Forbesganj Firing
February 17, 2012
Shri.Wajahat Habibullah,
Chairman,
National Commission For Minorities,
Dear Sir Habibullah ji,
Namaskar !
This is in furtherance of our telephonic dialogue on the issue of atrocities committed against the community at Bhajanpur, forbesganj, Bihar.
We, as a team of activists from NAPM, during a campaign for people’s empowerment (Lokshakti Abhiyan), visited Bhajanpur,on January 24th. It was indeed shocking to see the plight of the people under threat and harassment since last 6 months without any enquiry, with no offer for compensation. The whole incidence of rounds of firing, killing four and wounding many is certainly not justifiable and is now known to be merely an act of vengeance and repression by the agents and officials related with the company, Auro Sundaram. It is also absolutely unacceptable that no action has been taken or any arrests made against culprits till date.
On the other hand, even today, the people from four villages esp. Bhajanpur, are being asked to either enter in to a compromise with the Factory owners and governmental supporters of theirs or give up every demand. The Factory owners are also undemocratically pushing ahead the construction of the wall which is denying the people a right to communication through their generations old, road being occupied and cut off. This is not only unjust but will worsen the conflict.
Your intervention as a chairman of NCM is seen by everyone as an important support, however, It’s also noted that your recommendations after the first visit have not been responded to by the State government. Nor have they brought out a report of the judicial enquiry nor has any compensation, even for the dead/killed offered or paid till date. The most important is that the state authorities, except the Home Secretary, have not taken it seriously to look into or resolve the conflict. The Chief Minister himself has obviously avoided the same.
It’s a matter of fact, as enquired by me and my colleagues in NAPM, that there is unanimity among people’s organisations regarding the community’s rights to the concerned road and the factory has not followed due democratic process nor has it kept its promise to exclude the road and protect their interests. It is, therefore, unfortunate and unjust that the State is protecting the corporate interests not those of the minority community. Karbala, market, hospital etc. will not remain accessible for women-men of Bhajanpur and other villages, if alternative- 3 kms. Away is suggested. In this context, we urge you to urgently intervene to :
Ensure your recommendations are followed.
Judicial enquiry, with hearing in the villages is completed and interim report at least be submitted.
Compensation is paid at the rate of at least 5 Lakh per deceased and 1 Lakh for the wounded.
Construction of wall is stopped immediately, at least till the conflict is resolved.
Known culprits including then S.P.Araria, Garima Malik one booked.
Thank you, hoping a response,
Yours Sincerely,
Medha Patkar
Shri.Wajahat Habibullah,
Chairman,
National Commission For Minorities,
Dear Sir Habibullah ji,
Namaskar !
This is in furtherance of our telephonic dialogue on the issue of atrocities committed against the community at Bhajanpur, forbesganj, Bihar.
We, as a team of activists from NAPM, during a campaign for people’s empowerment (Lokshakti Abhiyan), visited Bhajanpur,on January 24th. It was indeed shocking to see the plight of the people under threat and harassment since last 6 months without any enquiry, with no offer for compensation. The whole incidence of rounds of firing, killing four and wounding many is certainly not justifiable and is now known to be merely an act of vengeance and repression by the agents and officials related with the company, Auro Sundaram. It is also absolutely unacceptable that no action has been taken or any arrests made against culprits till date.
On the other hand, even today, the people from four villages esp. Bhajanpur, are being asked to either enter in to a compromise with the Factory owners and governmental supporters of theirs or give up every demand. The Factory owners are also undemocratically pushing ahead the construction of the wall which is denying the people a right to communication through their generations old, road being occupied and cut off. This is not only unjust but will worsen the conflict.
Your intervention as a chairman of NCM is seen by everyone as an important support, however, It’s also noted that your recommendations after the first visit have not been responded to by the State government. Nor have they brought out a report of the judicial enquiry nor has any compensation, even for the dead/killed offered or paid till date. The most important is that the state authorities, except the Home Secretary, have not taken it seriously to look into or resolve the conflict. The Chief Minister himself has obviously avoided the same.
It’s a matter of fact, as enquired by me and my colleagues in NAPM, that there is unanimity among people’s organisations regarding the community’s rights to the concerned road and the factory has not followed due democratic process nor has it kept its promise to exclude the road and protect their interests. It is, therefore, unfortunate and unjust that the State is protecting the corporate interests not those of the minority community. Karbala, market, hospital etc. will not remain accessible for women-men of Bhajanpur and other villages, if alternative- 3 kms. Away is suggested. In this context, we urge you to urgently intervene to :
Ensure your recommendations are followed.
Judicial enquiry, with hearing in the villages is completed and interim report at least be submitted.
Compensation is paid at the rate of at least 5 Lakh per deceased and 1 Lakh for the wounded.
Construction of wall is stopped immediately, at least till the conflict is resolved.
Known culprits including then S.P.Araria, Garima Malik one booked.
Thank you, hoping a response,
Yours Sincerely,
Medha Patkar
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Kosi Mahasetu poses multiple threats to villagers
Official version is that nearly 80 years after an earthquake destroyed a critical link between Mithilanchal and Seemanchal regions of Bihar it has been reconnected with the inauguration of a 1.8 km bridge called Kosi Mahasetu on February 8 in the Kosi river basin.
C P Joshi, Union Road Transport Minister and Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar inaugurated the four-lane Kosi Mahasetu, connecting Bhaptiahi and Saraigarh in Supaul district. It has been built at an outlay of over Rs 400 crore by the Gammon India, the road bridge, with a 8.75 km approach road. It is claimed that it will cut distances between Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia and Madhepura districts on the one hand and Darbhanga and Madhubani districts on the other.
Villagers protest was suppressed by issuing notices under article 107 of the Civil Procedure Code to several people.
A 1.8 km long bridge and 9 km afflux dam has constructed to contain the wide flow of Kosi river. The Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune had estimated that the bridge should be 10300 meters long. Bihar government’s Gokul Prasad Committee had expressed strong reservations about the the design of the bridge. With the inauguration of this flawed bridge lakhs of people of surrounding villages face the danger of submergence and displacement being displaced in near future.
An independent fact finding team should visit to ascertain the situation and suggest remedial measures at this late stage.
C P Joshi, Union Road Transport Minister and Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar inaugurated the four-lane Kosi Mahasetu, connecting Bhaptiahi and Saraigarh in Supaul district. It has been built at an outlay of over Rs 400 crore by the Gammon India, the road bridge, with a 8.75 km approach road. It is claimed that it will cut distances between Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia and Madhepura districts on the one hand and Darbhanga and Madhubani districts on the other.
Villagers protest was suppressed by issuing notices under article 107 of the Civil Procedure Code to several people.
A 1.8 km long bridge and 9 km afflux dam has constructed to contain the wide flow of Kosi river. The Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune had estimated that the bridge should be 10300 meters long. Bihar government’s Gokul Prasad Committee had expressed strong reservations about the the design of the bridge. With the inauguration of this flawed bridge lakhs of people of surrounding villages face the danger of submergence and displacement being displaced in near future.
An independent fact finding team should visit to ascertain the situation and suggest remedial measures at this late stage.
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