Cong to agitate against proposed dam

Opposing construction of big dams in the Himalayan region,Congress MP Pradeep Tamtatoday said his party will launchanagitationagainstthe proposed Pancheswar dam, saying it would drive more than 31,000 poor families from their homes.
"While theworld isdecommissioningbig dams, Indian government is promoting these. Besides decommissioning some big damsEurope and USA have not constructedeven a single big dam in the last 20 years,"the Congress Rajya Sabha MP claimed.
Nepal which too has stakes in the Pancheshwar dam is yet to be approve the DPR (Detailed Project Report), he said.
"The tendency to constructbig dams in the Himalayan region not onlydeprives hill villages of their cultivable landand traditional habitation but also makes the region more susceptible to earthquakesandlandslides which cause loss of lives and property," Tamta said.

Tamta said that in itsDPR on the proposed project, the WAPCOS (Public Sector Enterprise under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Water Resources)has said the compensation package will be given to only 1,306 families.
"Congress asks thestate Government where wouldthe rest of the 29500 families go? It is clear that these families will begivenmeager compensation in the name of rehabilitation,which wewill raise before the people," said Tamta.
According to the Congress MP, the history of big dams in hill region indicates that these constructions give prosperity toother regions atthe price of destruction of hill regions.
"While Bhakra Nangal Dam sank Himachal Pradeshto give prosperity toPunjab, Haryanaand Rajasthan, Tehri dam gave prosperityto UP, Punjab, Haryanaand other states by drowning Garhwal region of thestate. The Pancheswardam will sink bigger parts ofeastern Kumaon region to give prosperityto UPand otherstates in the plains at the cost of the original people of the region," he said.