Stage IV affected have a change of heart, now they want only NHPC to develop project

AFFECTED PEOPLE FROM THINGCHIM-MANGSHILA AND OTHER PARTS DECIDE TO ATTEND PUBLIC HEARING THIS TIME
WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 18 March: The affected land owners of 520 MW Teesta Stage-IV hydel project from Thingchim-Mangshila GPU of North Sikkim, in a meeting held today here at Mangshila to discuss the public hearing for the project called for 29 March at Namprikdang Ground in Dzongu, decided that they would attend the public hearing and raise their various demands at the forum and engage in interactions with the project developer, NHPC, and district officials.
The affected people, it may be recalled, had boycott the public hearing called for this project on 22 July last year. Interestingly, the affected land-owners at Thingchim-Mangshila and also some other GPUs have also have also had a complete change of heart. Last year, they had boycott the public hearing in universal dismissal of NHPC and its promises. While they had clarified that they had no objections to the project per se, they had insisted that they could not trust NHPC anymore since they had seen the denials and ignored promises suffered by the affected people of Teesta Stage-V developed slightly downstream from where NHPC proposes to develop the Rs. 3,594.74 crore Stage-IV.
At the meeting held at Mangshila to discuss the public hearing, the land oustees insisted that now they will not accept any private company for Stage IV and insist that only NHPC be taken as the project developer. This stand in favour of NHPC was because they had seen for themselves the scale of community services undertaken by NHPC in the project area of Teesta Stage V, compared to which the performance of private project developers in the area has been dismal, said one of the land oustees while addressing the meeting today.
Other land oustees also lauded NHPC for the support it extended in the region in the wake of the 18 September Earthquake and of how it came to the assistance of earthquake victims and provided them relief materials and managed several relief camps. Earlier, while delivering the agenda of the meeting today, ward Panchayat Tibuk Dilli Ram Limboo informed the gathering about the public hearing called for 29 March at Namprikdang.  Land of a total of 76 families at Thingchim-Mangshila GPU has been surveyed for acquisition for the project and is under demarcation on the left bank of the Teesta, it is learnt.
The meeting also discussed several demands of the affected people including the one seeking land acquisition at the rate of Rs. 50 per square feet.
Meanwhile, today’s meeting also appointed a group of representatives from the GPU headed by the Tibuk ward Panchayat, and including the panchayat secretary and Chewang Lachungpa to meet with the DC North and the Land Revenue Department to discuss the land acquisition rate on 20 and 21 March.
Later, a six-member committee was nominated from the GPU comprising of panchayat Dilliram Limboo, Rapden Bhutia, Chewang Lachungpa, Jigmee Tongden Lepcha, Zomin  Limboo (zilla member) and Sarki Bhutia, Panchayat Secretary to represent the GPU and the affected people and take up their demands at the public hearing.