Mahanta Da, In the last response, you had stated that owners/ builders of the Mega Dam are not concerned about a monster dam being felled by an earth-quake, because, the owner is Indian Government and it is not concerned about it, as the money spent is only paper-currency. I have not been able to buy the argument, because, it does not make any economic sense. None would invest in India if the paper currency has no worth. In fact the balance of payment situation has led to currency baiting at Seoul and the US has passed a bill to impose countervailing duty on imports from economies such as China and India as they have not allowed appreciation of their currencies in detriment to the US industries. If your contention were true, Indian government would then spend such huge amounts for the welfare of all people with the same zeal in order to get over the growing discontent , as displayed by the fissiparous tendencies all around. What the Indian government works for is only in the interest of crony capitalism which has even been underscored by a member of the ruling class namely L K Advani, when he stated that corporate houses determine who would be what in the government. I think what one of my friends wrote to me sounds sensible: that there is no earlier example of a washout of a dam, though many people (2 lakhs perhaps) lost their lives in China in 2008. There were only damages to the dams. So, this history may have inspired the Indian Government and its cronies and the international investors and also the insurers to throw caution to the winds in so far as the fate of the people is concerned. Damages may be cured; electricity generation is a must for the corporate houses, big business and extraction of alumina from third largest reserve of bauxite from Maoist dominated Central India. To hell with lives of petty people that are only required during elections; and that can be taken care of in due course, as one or the other representative of the corporate houses will only rule India. And I do not understand your bias in favour of China. As a race I too would not demean the Chinese as I would not cast aspersion on my own, but the military-industrial-one-party-bureaucratic complex or system in place in China would surely act for the interest of it own cronies, as evident from its dirty fuel consumption and the havoc already played by its monster dams in more than one occasion on its own people. And the common madness displayed by both China and India in tampering with nature is no madness at all. It is the myopia of capitalism that can see only the immediate: in the short run. Uttam Kumar Borthakur I do not think China is in a mad race TO HARNESS Electricity from the Tsang-Po -- because as you all know P is a multiple of Q.H : P=Megawatt Q = Flow through the Turbine in Cubic metre per second. H=Head in Metre between inlet and outlet of Turbine. Where is the Q in Tibet? Except melting snow-and nothing called Monsoon? India is in a race- and it is mad . Poor PLANNERS do not know Who Planned-Why Planned -What for -What will come off these dams.
mm Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:59:29 +0600 Subject: Clarion call to the Premiers of China and India :Please do not obstruct the free flowing Brahmaputra From: hifangbd at gmail.com To: pmosb at pmo.nic.in CLARION CALL and FERVENT APPEAL TO THE HON'BLE PREMIERS OF CHINA AND INDIA 1. You both will be meeting in Delhi on 16 December, 2010 on many issues. Will you talk on the fate of the Brahmaputra? 2. We know that both India and China do have eagle eyes on the Brahmaputra river which has been flowing thru' China, India and Bangladesh originating from the glaciers of the Tibet mountains. 3. Both India and China have been in the mad race of harnessing electricity from Brahmaputra by constructing several mega-dams upon it. The dirty and ugly methodology of choosing mega-dam projects arbitrarily and unilaterally on the part of both the countries could be termed as flagrant violations of UN watercourses convention, 1997. 4.Will you shun this self-suicidal violent path of leading assault upon the natural flow of 3000km long free flowing river Brahmaputra. 5.The mega-dams will cause mega disaster through obstructing free flowing silt. Ecology, biodiversity, livelihood and the riverine civilization will be doomed throughout the basin. Bangladesh being geographically at the receiving downstream end will have the worst fallout. 6. Our clarion call: India, China and Bangladesh.....forget the past. Think anew pragmatically. Establish Joint Brahmaputra Basin Authority. Harness resource from the common international river Brahmaputra without causing assault upon nature! Change the development paradigm. Accept and oblige nature friendly development discourses for the overall interest of the human civilization. WILL YOU PAY HEED TO THIS CALL OF THE HOUR ! Angikar Bangladesh Foundation, Uttam Kumar Borthakur _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
