22/08/2024
TEESTA DAMS IN FOCUS: ACT DEMANDS GOVERNMENT ACTION AFTER TUESDAY'S BALUTAR LANDSLIDE
Gangtok, 22nd August: The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) is calling for immediate action following a devastating landslide at Dipu Dara near Singtam, which damaged the Balutar Teesta Stage V GIS Gas Insulated Switchgear building and entry head tunnel of the powerhouse hydroelectric project.
The organization has been warning about the dangers of such projects for years. As they pointed out, "On Tuesday, a cheerful morning, a massive landslide at Dipu Dara near Singtam damaged the Balutar Teesta Stage V GIS Gas Insulated Switchgear building and entry head tunnel of the powerhouse hydroelectric project, and over several houses in the area were also damaged by the landslide. This is all because of the 20 km of tunnels from Dikchu Dam to the underground Power Station at Balutar Dipu Dara. Inside the Dipu Dara, the underground Teesta Stage V powerhouse is located along with underground tunneling and audit, so in the future, the periphery area of Dipudara, Beng, Khamdong, etc. area will be affected. The main cause of Dipudara landslide is because of underground Teesta Stage V powerhouse."
The recent landslide is just the latest in a series of disasters caused by hydropower projects in the region. Last year's 1200 MW Chungthang dam collapse led to massive flooding and damage in north Bengal and Sikkim, but the discourse shifted to GLOF (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood) instead of addressing the role of dam breaches in the disaster, states press release by Affected Citizen of Teesta on Thursday.
As the organization noted, "The environmental and social impacts of run-of-the-river projects are clearly demonstrated by the Teesta Stage V project. This project was the first to be taken up in the six stages ‘cascade’ plan to harness 3635 MW of hydropower, all within 175 kms of the river Teesta in Sikkim. It involves a concrete gravity dam 96.45 m high and 182.5 m long at Dikchu, which raises the water level upstream before it is diverted through a 17.5 km long head, race tunnel to the powerhouse at Balutar. The project being implemented by the national hydroelectric power corporation (NHPC) is generating 510 mw; the project was commissioned in 2008. After 16 years of commission Teesta Stage V dam, was rendered non-operational since last October following the glacial lake outburst flood that caused significant damage and flooding across the Teesta river basin."
The Affected Citizens of Teesta are now calling on the state government to rethink its developmental model, particularly with regards to hydropower projects.
As the state struggles to recover from last year's disaster, with infrastructure and economy still shattered, the Affected Citizens of Teesta are determined to push for change. "We would like to appeal to state government to rethink the present developmental model of the state, particularly Hydropower projects, which has been bane than boon to Sikkim, we urge govt to not to go ahead with controversial NHPC 520 MW Stage IV and demand the scrapping of the project which will be otherwise nail on the coffin to Sikkim. We would also like to suggest government to decommission some of the dams like NHPC Stage V , Stage III looking at the vulnerability of the GLOF and the real timing of climate change that state is experiencing from last ten years or so." said Gyatsho Tongden Lepcha.
