000-tobecategorised

How the Attack on Rahul Gandhi For His US Remarks Exposes BJP's Own Dubious Relationship with Sikhs https://thewire.in/politics/how-the-attack-on-rahul-gandhi-for-his-us-remarks-exposes-bjps-own-dubious-relationship-with-sikhs/ Paramjeet Singh and Rajarshee Narayan Chowdhury 28/Sep/2024  Senior BJP leaders such as Hardeep Singh Puri (who is himself Sikh) pulled-no-punches, in a column for the Indian Express, Puri wrote: “The only time Sikhs have felt insecure and faced an existential threat in India was in the early 1980s.” 
 BJP’s national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, referred to Rahul Gandhi’s comments as supposed evidence of the latter having gone from making “childish comments” to “dangerous and mischievous activities”. ..Congress leader Pawan Khera, in responding to the BJP leaders’ attacks on Gandhi, pointed to how the saffron party often construes any criticism of its policies as attacks on India. Khera further reminded how the Prime Minister himself was not above-often in pejorative terms-referencing people’s clothing, most recently, the anti-hijab movement of the BJP, against the school-going girls of Karnataka, fanning communal flames in educational institutions; with members of the judiciary openly attending events by organisations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). 

Adani Pump Storage Dams: Defiling sacred pools and fish sanctuaries in the Western Ghats https://sandrp.in/2024/09/25/adani-energy-dams-defiling-sacred-pools-and-fish-sanctuaries-in-western-ghats/
September 25, 2024 SANDRP

Tekpowale Fish Sanctuary: This small, remote settlement protects a pool and fish dear to a particularly fierce forest deity, Vardayini (Bestower of Boons). The pool is surrounded by a dark sacred grove which is the open-to-sky shrine to the goddess... Forest-dwelling communities here do not cast a net on the pool even when the drought is bad, and food is scarce. Water is not drawn from the pool, there are no pumps and pipes dipping in the pool, otherwise ubiquitous all over.

Adani Green Energy: 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pumped Storage Project: Adani Energy has proposed 1500 MW Warasgaon Warangi Pumped storage Project which consists of interbasin transfers of water from Krishna basin to the flood-prone, west flowing Savitri Basin and back. 

 How can such a project be proposed in a biodiversity-rich, highly dammed area with sacred space of worship, dense forests, a conservation reserve and a Wildlife Sanctuary?

Alternative analysis of the project locations done in the Pre-feasibility report is a purely desktop exercise which considers only the economic cost of the alternatives. The consultants (Tata Consultancy has worked on the PFR) simply put 4 options on paper and have paid zero attention to the siting and its impact on ecology of the Global Biodiversity Hotspot of Western Ghats. 

https://www.adaniwatch.org/pumped_hydro_adani_s_2_billion_pumped_hydro_projects_to_impact_biodiversity_hotspot  Campaigners,,, say these ‘pumped hydro storage’ projects will damage the biodiversity of the Western Ghat range. A tiger reserve and a wildlife sanctuary are adjacent to the proposed dams, which occur inside a sensitive seismic zone. Experts say that the environmental-impact study for parts of the project flagrantly ignores the environmental importance of this globally significant hotspot for biodiversity.

 Dharavi redevelopment: State proposes sending residents to Deonar dumping yard   https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/state-moots-rental-housing-for-dharavi-residents-at-deonar-dumping-yard-101726254505747.html  The move has raised concerns regarding exposure to toxic gases and spurred the opposition to redouble their pleas for rehabilitating residents within Dharavi 

“Sending Dharavi residents to Deonar is inhuman. No one must be displaced and everyone must be rehabilitated in-situ (at the spot),” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP from south central Mumbai, Anil Desai. “Dharavi has enough land for everyone and the residents have been living there since decades,” he noted.