Protest against go-ahead to dam on the Ganga (Hindu 03 August 2010)

‘ Satyagrahis' demand a public audit of the Loharinag-Pala project
‘No dam on the Ganga':Manushi Sangathan founder Madhu Kishwar (centre) and noted Supreme Court lawyer Major-General (Retd.) Lakhwinder Singh (right) with members of Ganga Jalbiradari during a protest in New Delhi on Monday.
NEW DELHI: Protesting against the Central Group of Ministers' decision to give the go-ahead for the Loharinag-Pala dam on the Ganga, the Ganga Jalbiradari and the Manushi Sangathan organised a daylong fast and ‘ satyagraha' at Samata Sthal opposite the Gandhi Samadhi here on Monday in solidarity with former IIT-Kanpur professor and Central Pollution Control Board ex-member secretary G. D. Aggarwal's indefinite fast on the issue.
The ‘ satyagraha' participants alleged that the Prime Minister's decision to assign the job to a hand-picked Group of Ministers was “overriding and undermining” the power of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
The “Ganga Satyagrahis” vowed to mobilise Ganga devotees all over the country and demanded a public audit of the Loharinag-Pala project. The protestors said the sanction to the dam project was illegal and in bad faith as the Union Environment Ministry had earlier admitted that the dam did not merit environmental clearance.
A three-member team of experts authorised by the NGRBA had recently submitted an adverse report and recommended decommissioning of the dam, the Ganga Jalbiradari members said.
The protestors further claimed that a team of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in March had submitted a negative report on the cost-benefit ratio, violation of environmental laws, ecological impact of the power project besides gross corruption and mismanagement.
The Ganga Jalbiradari members also alleged that the GoM was appointed by the Prime Minister without the knowledge of nine expert members of the NGRBA. The protestors alleged that the Central Government had violated written and public assurances given earlier that the natural flow of the Ganga would not be interrupted.
The protestors said they would appeal to the MPs to raise the issue with the Government and called on the public to support the indefinite fast undertaken by Prof. Aggarwal.