GUWAHATI, Jan 12 � Going a step further than his earlier claim of Maoist elements infiltrating into the anti-big dam protest in the State, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the Maoists had formed a 'Mega Dam Resistance Forum' and influencing the anti-dam stir at Lower Subansiri.
Falling short of linking the Maoist designs directly to China, Gogoi said that their acts stood to benefit China only which was planning massive diversion of the Brahmaputra in Tibet.
Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said that Home Ministry reports had categorically mentioned Maoist involvement in the anti-mega dam agitation in Assam.
�I have been maintaining all along that Maoists have infiltrated into the anti-mega dam movement in the State in a clandestine manner. Intelligence inputs and Home Ministry reports vindicate it,� Gogoi said.
Seeking to allay apprehensions on the Lower Subansiri dam, Gogoi said that the State Government was going to constitute a dam safety regulatory authority to ensure mitigation of dam-related adverse effects.
�The proposed regulatory body will address the entire gamut of issues concerning downstream impact mitigation including rehabilitation and compensation to the affected people,� Gogoi said.
