GUWAHATI, Oct 12 - Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has demanded that the State and the Central governments should set up an expert committee to examine the impacts of the Chinese dams on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries in Tibet.
Addressing mediapersons here today, Gogoi said the Chinese version on the impacts of the dams it is building on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries in Tibet is not credible. The Chinese authorities have claimed that the dams they are building on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are not going to impact India adversely as they are using only one per cent of the total water of the river and its tributaries available in their Chinese parts.
According to Gogoi, the statement of the Chinese authorities on the issue is simply not credible. The State and Central governments should set up an expert committee comprising internationally acclaimed Brahmaputra experts, like Prof Dulal Goswami and Prof Nayan Sarma, to assess the impacts of such exercises of the Chinese authorities on the Indian part of the mighty river, he said.
Moreover, he said the Union government should raise the issue at the 8th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit with all the seriousness required for impressing upon the partner countries for a positive and lasting solution of the issue.
On the issue of eviction of encroachers from government land, he said the State government must have a uniform policy on eviction of encroachers. It should not discriminate against any group of encroachers, so that the eviction drives do not give rise to any public resentment.
He maintained that the State government might not have the exact figure concerning the number of encroachers and the size of the government land under encroachment and reiterated the demand for a White Paper on encroachment on government land in the State.
On the State government rescinding the decision of the previous government to form the South Kamrup and East Kamrup districts, he said that the two districts were formed to accelerate planned development of the areas falling under them. The decision of the present State government to rescind that decision is simply illogical and politically motivated, said Gogoi.
He also described the statement of Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the issue of providing shelter to the Hindu Bangladeshi nationals as an uncalled-for and unfortunate one. This statement smacks of communalism and does not behove of a person of the Education Minister�s stature. It also does not bode well for the young generation, said the former Chief Minister.
