ITANAGAR, Sep 6: Close on the heels of the pro-talk ULFA faction launching a tirade against “outsiders”, the anti-talk faction of ULFA headed by Paresh Barua on Monday asked NEEPCO and NHPC, two public sector power companies to quit the region or face “military action.” It also asked the government to remove names of all “outsider Indians” from various educational institutions and rename them after eminent indigenous people, according to a report published in The Indian Express.
The ULFA faction, in a statement e-mailed to media offices at Guwahati on Monday, held the North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) responsible for the recent floods in Lakhimpur district, and asked it to leave Assam, and said NHPC’s Lower Subansiri hydel project would cause a much bigger disaster.
“While NEEPCO’s 405-MW Ranganadi hydel project caused such havoc, it is easily understood what disaster is in store in NHPC’s 2000-MW Lower Subansiri project. It will wipe out the entire downstream area. Hence both companies should shut down their operations in this (Western South-East Asia) region. Otherwise ULFA(I) will carry out a military action against them,” the statement signed by self-styled Major Arunoday Asom, assistant publicity secretary said.
It also asked the people employed with the two hydel projects to find alternative jobs elsewhere. “Our target is not the employees, but the two companies. Hence, the employees and workers are asked to find jobs elsewhere within the next six months,” it said.
The Assam Police have alerted the concerned districts and already instructed beefing up security to the NEEPCO and NHPC installations and offices in the state, Assam Police DG Mukesh Sahay said. “We have taken note of the threat and accordingly instructed concerned officers to step up security for the various installations of the two PSUs in the state,” Sahay told The Indian Express. The major projects of the two companies are however located inside Arunachal Pradesh, he pointed out, adding that his counterpart in that state too has been alerted. (Courtesy: The Indian Express)
