Itanagar: Various NGOs in Arunachal Pradesh have demanded the state government to come out with a white paper on the upfront payments received after inking memorandum
of agreements (MoAs) with various power developers in recent times.
Expressing shock at the ongoing trend of signing MoAs by the government with private power developers for construction of mega dams, the NGOs also demanded an expenditure statement on the amount received to enable people to know about the fate of the money earned, according to a joint statement issued here today.
Claiming that the MoAs did not come under the CAG, the Siang Bachao Andolan (SBA), Human Right Law Network-Arunachal Unit (HRLNW-AP), Global Human Rights Organization (GHRO), Nefa Indigenous Human Rights Organization (NIHRO), Women Power Connect-AP (WPC-AP) and Arunachal Citizens Rights (ACR) in a joint statement today said, they would be 'compelled to initiate vigorous judicial activism in the public interest' in case of default.
"The landowners or the to-be affected people are not informed of the proposed dams, which are going to deprive thousands of tribal villagers of their livelihoods, agricultural and horticultural fields and gardens, besides destroying virgin forests and rivers," they pointed out.
"The state government without any specific planning approach, have inked 148 such understandings and agreements, out of, which 141 were signed during the previous government and seven in Siang basin (West Siang and Upper Siang districts) by the present government since May last," the NGOs claimed.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 11:27