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With anti-dam mantra on lips, Tawang monks hit the streets
Naresh Mitra, TNN Mar 7, 2013, 06.47AM IST
Tags:
the river|
the rest|
Tawang monks|
Sushil Kumar Shinde|
Manmohan Singh|
Lama|
Arunachal Pradesh|
anti-dam mantra
GUWAHATI: Buddhist monks in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang -- which China claims as its own -- have risen against construction of dams that they fear may endanger monasteries in the district. One of the shrines under threat is the famed 400-year-old Tawang monastery, considered the largest in India.
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters - including members of the Monpa tribe which inhabits the region, along with monks from different monasteries - marched through the town, reciting prayers and shouting anti-dam slogans.
The protesters' anger was directed at the 13 hydel projects that are planned in the district. Many of these are on Tawang Chu and Nyamjang Chu — the two major rivers in the district — and may end up destroying holy sites along the river basin. There are also fears that the 780-MW Nyamganj Chu project is going to damage the winter habitat of the black-necked crane, which is revered by the Monpas as the embodiment of the sixth Dalai Lama.
Lobsang Gyatso, a lama and general secretary of Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF), one of the outfits spearheading the protests, says that most of these projects are unnecessary. "The population of Tawang is about 49,000. We don't need so many hydel projects to meet the electricity demand of our people. Small hydro-projects would suffice. All these large dams are meant to generate electricity to be sold outside, at the cost of our livelihoods and ecology" ...
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters - including members of the Monpa tribe which inhabits the region, along with monks from different monasteries - marched through the town, reciting prayers and shouting anti-dam slogans.
The protesters' anger was directed at the 13 hydel projects that are planned in the district. Many of these are on Tawang Chu and Nyamjang Chu — the two major rivers in the district — and may end up destroying holy sites along the river basin. There are also fears that the 780-MW Nyamganj Chu project is going to damage the winter habitat of the black-necked crane, which is revered by the Monpas as the embodiment of the sixth Dalai Lama.
Lobsang Gyatso, a lama and general secretary of Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF), one of the outfits spearheading the protests, says that most of these projects are unnecessary. "The population of Tawang is about 49,000. We don't need so many hydel projects to meet the electricity demand of our people. Small hydro-projects would suffice. All these large dams are meant to generate electricity to be sold outside, at the cost of our livelihoods and ecology" ...
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-07/guwahati/37530866_1_anti-dam-hydel-projects-smrf
