Protecting the corrupt, aligning with them for power agenda of Modi and team: Sharad Pawar
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nov 8: Protecting those involved in corruption and joining hands with them for the sake of power is the single-point agenda of the Narendra Modi government, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Sharad Pawar said on Friday.
Addressing a rally in Jintur in Parbhani, some 200 kilometres from here, Pawar cited a reported statement of state minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is part of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, to buttress his claim.
"Bhujbal, when asked why he joined the ruling alliance, claimed he did not want to go to jail. (He said) if we do not want to go to jail, then we have to join Modi. If a senior minister is saying this, then it is clear power is being misused against the opposition. Fake offences are being registered so as to not allow opposition parties to function," he claimed.
"Protecting those involved in corruption and joining hands with them for power is the single point agenda of Modi and his team," Pawar alleged.
Bhujbal on Friday denied he joined the BJP-led ruling alliance in the state to avoid investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, and also said he had never made any such admission.
Bhujbal was part of the Ajit Pawar-led group that joined the Eknath Shinde government in July last year, leading to a split in the Sharad Pawar-founded party.
While the previous Congress-NCP government waived farmer loans to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore, the situation is such that soybean and cotton are not fetching remunerative prices and farmers are in trouble, the former Union agriculture minister said.
"Now the Modi government has decided to not allow sugar export, which is part of its anti-farmer policy. If we want to oppose this decision, then we have to defeat those in power (Mahayuti). Atrocities against women have gone up. We have the example of Badlapur (sexual assault on two school girls). Earlier, MP Fauzia Khan said women are missing in the state," he told the gathering.
The present government has no right to be in power when women are not respected and nor are they safe, Pawar added.
Speaking about the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Malvan in Sindhudurg (in August), Pawar said the incident was a clear case of corruption.
"It was, however, claimed the statue fell due to winds. Then how come statues in Mumbai, located along the sea, are safe," the opposition stalwart asked.
Maharashtra assembly polls will be held on November 20, while results will be declared on November 23.
The fight is between the ruling alliance of the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress.
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Tonnes of untreated waste being dumped in landfills in Kedarnath, reveals RTI query
Dehradun, Nov 8: Tonnes of untreated waste continues to be dumped at the landfill sites around the famous Himalayan temple of Kedarnath, causing concern among those who care for the environment as the area is eco-sensitive.
A total of 49.18 tonnes of unprocessed garbage generated in Kedarnath was dumped at the two landfill sites near the temple between 2022 and 2024, an RTI query filed by a Noida-based environmentalist has revealed.
The non-processed garbage generated in the area also showed a rising trend during the period, with 13.2 tonnes of untreated waste generated in 2022, 18.48 tonnes in 2023 and 17.5 tonnes so far this year, according to the Uttarakhand government's response to the query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Besides, the eco-sensitive area also generated 23.3 tonnes of inorganic garbage during the period.
However, all of it was processed or recycled, the public information officer of the Kedarnath Nagar Panchayat said in response to the RTI query filed by Amit Gupta.
"The RTI data is shocking both in terms of the quantity of garbage generated and the manner in which it has been left untreated. It proves once again that there is no proper garbage management system in Kedarnath, which is an eco-sensitive area," Gupta said.
"The temple is situated at a height of 12,000 feet, where there are also glaciers. The eco-sensitivity of the area is beyond doubt. The lack of a proper garbage management system in Kedarnath even figured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat programme last year. Still nothing is being done by the authorities on the ground to transport the plastic waste to the plains and process it," he said.
The two landfill sites near the temple are reaching their saturation point. If things continue in this manner, another tragedy like the 2013 disaster is unavoidable, the activist said.
What makes the situation even more worrying is that the response to the RTI query claims that no complaint was registered or action taken during the period against garbage disposal in an irresponsible manner.
"I have myself been writing to the authorities for the last two years on the garbage issue in Kedarnath. At least half-a-dozen complaints have been filed by me only," Gupta said.
"The NGT and the NMCG have also taken note of my complaints. Sharing my concern, they directed the authorities to do something to rid the holy place located in the ecologically-fragile Himalayas of untreated waste by setting up enough sewage treatment plants in Kedarnath," he added.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has also written to the Rudraprayag district administration, asking it to take necessary steps to stop the rising pollution levels of the Mandakini river, which flows near the Himalayan temple.
The NMCG issued the directions to the district administration on a complaint filed by Gupta on the basis of an RTI query, which revealed that the absence of sewage treatment plants in Kedarnath is leading to rising pollution levels in the Mandakini, a tributary of the Ganga, with untreated waste being released directly into it.
