|
India Thinkers Net Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << March26, 2005 - India Thinkers Net |
March28, 2005 - India Thinkers Net >> |
|
From: "River Basin Friends\(NE\)" <riverbasinfriends@yahoo.co.in> Date: Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:14am Subject: Oil drilling in Assam amidst protests(Never before ) riverbasinfrien... Dear Friends, This news is a ray of hope in the basin. ravi Oil drilling at Charaipung amidst protests DIBRUGARH, March 24 ??“ Never before has oil exploration activity been such a contentious issue in Assam. However, the Premier Oil ??“ led consortium has begun drilling operations this afternoon at Charaipung, giving a formal start to the ???Lakkhi ??“1??? well site. Whether oil or gas is struck would be known by the third week of April, as the borings reach the targetted depth of 4000 metres. A group of four companies ??“ Oil India Limited (OIL), Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) and Premier Oil have earlier entered into a partnership, with 10, 27, 25 and 38 per cent share respectively, in exploring oil and gas in the Charaipung area inside the Upper Dehing Reserved Forest under Digboi Forest Division. The partnership has Premier Oil, a London-based multinational, as the operator. That there could be a significant oil reserve in the Charaipung area is an assessment of a previous three-dimensional seismic survey. During that operation in April to June 2003, some explosives were fired under the soil, even as geophones spread over a ten square kilometre area recorded the vibrations. The complex data was then deciphered and studied by experts to assess possible oil reserves deep inside the earth??™s crust. A Russian firm carried out the survey. The Charaipung exploration work is a result of the findings of the survey, and is OIL??™s effort to meet the country??™s energy requirements. Meanwhile, the environmental group Nature??™s Beckon is of the opinion that clearing a portion of a virgin rainforest for oil exploration is a crime against nature. The NGO has been campaigning for a wildlife sanctuary to protect the three contiguous rainforests of Joypur, Dirak and Upper Dehing as a single entity. The three reserved forests measures a little over 500 square kilometres, and in June last year, the Assam Forest department notified 111 square kilometres under Dirak and Joypur as the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary. This was far short of the expectations of the environmentalists. With the petroleum companies taking up oil exploration work in such a virgin forest, it has raised their heckles. Nature??™s Beckon director Soumyadeep Datta said the oil exploration activity inside a virgin forest is in contravention of the accepted global nature conservation efforts. He said he has written letters to organisations like Greenpeace, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bombay Natural History Society, Centre for Science & Environment and others to join the protests. He claimed that he has evidence to show that a vast area of the Charaipung blocks under the Upper Dehing Reserved Forest has been scalped of valuable trees in the oil exploration venture. Rejecting the allegations, Premier Oil??™s India manager Rob Marshall said his company has a global reputation of being an environment-friendly company, and that elaborate steps have been taken to preserve the Lakkhi-1 oil exploration site and its surroundings. He said that Premier Oil has adhered to all forest department and pollution control rules in the Charaipung operations. ???Even the tree felling work was done departmentally by the Forest Department people,??? said Marshall, and added that the fears of Nature??™s Beckon ???has been blown out of proportion.??? Marshall said that the entire schedule of work at Lakkhi-1 has been governed by clearances and permissions by competent authorities. ???We were first given the exploration licences, then the clearances from the Indian environment & forest ministry and the Assam Pollution Control Board??¦there is no question of depredating a forest??¦we are trying to build national wealth for India and that too at the invitation of the Government of India,??? he said. ???Yes, we are here to do business as ours is not a charity organisation, but we do healthy business and obey the rules,??? he added. However, Nature??™s Beckon is yet to be convinced of the eco-friendliness of any oil exploration activity. ???The Joypur, Upper Dehing and Dirak forest patch is one of the last 12 virgin rainforests in the world, it is our heritage and bounden duty to save the green cover,??? said Datta. That the oil exploration site and the road leading to it has been officially de-reserved is of little consolation to the environmentalists. To this, Marshall said his company would be glad to take up the necessary compensatory afforestation work by itself by inducting professionals, provided this is allowed by the forest department. http://www.assamtribune.com ravindranath AKAJAN District-Dhemaji.787059. Assam. India. Mobile-09435089275 E mail.assamravi@... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Politician-Militant Nexus In Northeast Helps Rebels chro2003 New Indian Express/IANS, March 26, 2005, Satur. Politician-militant nexus in northeast helps rebels KOHIMA: The politician-militant nexus in the insurgency-racked northeast is nothing new, but fresh allegations have emerged about a sizeable percentage of government funds finding its way to the rebels. Last week, a startling revelation was made in the Nagaland assembly during its budget session when an opposition Congress party legislator tabled "documentary evidence" and alleged payoffs of Rs.10.9 million to the rebels. Congress lawmaker K.V. Pusa raised a storm by placing before the assembly a two-page statement alleging various government departments had paid the amount to both factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). Apart from a monthly "tax" imposed by various rebel groups on citizens, including government employees and businessmen, a portion of central government funds doled out for the area's development reaches militant groups as a routine, say observers. Any contractor implementing government projects cannot lay a brick if the rebel groups active in the area are not paid off. In many parts of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and Tripura, underground groups levy a "tax" ranging between 10 and 20 percent of the monthly salaries of government employees. Such things happen under the very nose of the government machinery - a fact very few will admit on record - and the phenomenon has been going on for decades. To substantiate his claims, Congress legislator Pusa submitted a detailed statement replete with cheque numbers and names of people who were paid the money. "Yes, we had collected tax before the ceasefire in 2001. But now we have stopped collecting taxes and instead accept donations from our sympathisers," a senior leader of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN told IANS. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was undoubtedly embarrassed by Pusa's presentation, including the allegation that a minister in his cabinet was the conduit for collecting government funds and then paying off the rebels. "I don't have any reports of public servants paying rebel outfits," Rio said. In the past, there have been several instances when lawmakers in states like Manipur were questioned by security agencies for an alleged nexus with militant groups. In a region affected by insurgency, observers say it is unthinkable for politicians to win elections or function normally after they win polls without covert support from rebel groups. "The situation is such that it is not possible to ignore threats from underground groups. So there is a tendency among politicians to have some tacit understanding with militants," a senior legislator in Manipur said, speaking on condition of strict anonymity. Even in Assam, cabinet minister Bharat Narah is in the eye of a storm over his alleged links with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), quoting police intercepts, has accused the minister of having links with the ULFA. Police have not denied the reports though Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi rubbished such allegations, saying any ULFA rebel could have the telephone numbers and other details of a minister. "Journalists like you often communicate with militants. So it will be unfair to arrest journalists on the simple ground that they talk to militants," Gogoi said. There are some 30 militant groups active in the northeast with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination. -- IANS http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEH20050325092812&Title=Top+Stories&rLink=0 ------------------------------------------------------------ New Indian Express, March 26, 2005, Saturday Governor calls ULFA for talks GUWAHATI, MARCH 25. The Assam Governor, Ajai Singh, today again asked the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to come forward for talks. Speaking to reporters at a Holi get- together here, the Governor said he would welcome any ULFA leader who expressed a desire to sit for negotiation. ??” PTI http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/26/stories/2005032606270101.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695024 Kerala South India Ph.: 0471-2476262 www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
|
| << March26, 2005 - India Thinkers Net |
March28, 2005 - India Thinkers Net >> |
|
India Thinkers Net Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on India Thinkers Net |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |