ACT remains steadfast against Stage-IV, affected members not to release land for project

GANGTOK, 25 March: Affected Citizens of Teesta, a protest group opposed to hydel projects in the State, has reiterated its opposition to the 520 MW Teesta Stage-IV hydel project, the public hearing for which has been called for 20 March 2012. In a press communiqué issued today, the ACT general secretary, Dawa Tshering Lepcha, has also announced that ACT members, whose lands form a “major and critical” component of the Stage-IV project, have also resolved not to give consent for the acquisition of their lands for this project.
The ACT stand against the project, the release explains, is to save the last remaining free-flowing stretch of the Teesta [between the 1,200 MW Teesta Stage-III at Chungthang and the 510MW Stage-V at Dikchu]. Teesta Stage-IV, to be developed by NHPC, is scheduled to have its dam at village Chandey and Hee-Gythang downstream from the confluence of Runchu and have its powerhouse near Phidang in North Sikkim.
The first public hearing for the project, called in July last year, it may be recalled, was boycott by all the affected people. This time, however, various sections of the affected people have already announced their decision to participate in the public hearing to be held at the Namprikdang Ground in Dzongu.
“Unlike in the case of other power projects, when not a single landowner doggedly opposed the projects, the members of ACT, whose land form a major and critical component of the Teesta IV 520MW project, have pledged to oppose the project and the land acquisition process,” the ACT general secretary informs.
“No ACT member will give consent to the land acquisition for the project at any cost,” he reiterates.
The release goes on to add that the protest is also based on the experience of the devastation caused by the 18 September Earthquake last year.
“Bearing in mind the earthquake of 18 September 2011, ACT would further like to bring to the people’s attention that as per the EIA chapter on Geological and Seismicity, the Teesta-IV project lies on the Main Central Thrust (MCT) line which is an ominous and catastrophic sign and situation for the future in case of an earthquake,” the release details.
ACT has also appealed to all the people of North Sikkim to once again boycott the Public Hearing “for the sake of Teesta and the safety of future generations”.
“Help us to save the last free flowing section of the Teesta and be proud of our historic action,” the release concludes.