Power Minister rejects Stage-IV public hearing as a failure

GANGTOK, 01 Apr: Power Minister Sonam Gyatso Lepcha, who is also the Dzongu MLA, has dismissed the public hearing called for the Teesta Stage-IV hydel project held at Namprikdang on 29 March as a failed meeting, contending that a majority of the affected people had stayed away.
Speaking as the Dzongu area MLA, he claimed that 95% of the affected people were from Upper and Lower Dzongu and added that they had not turned up for the public hearing. “How then can the public hearing be called successful as pronounced in the different newspapers?” he challenged.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Mr Lepcha explained that important components of the hydel project like the dam, the intake area, tunnels, power house etc. fall between Namprikdang to Pheedang onbthe right bank of the Teesta in Dzongu, making the land to be acquired here the most important aspect of the acquisition process.
In this regard, he highlighted that from this area, only around 13 people, only two of whom are affected landowners, attended the public hearing. This, almost nil participation of the most affected, made the entire public hearing process a failure, he argued, alleging further that NHPC labourers had been brought to the public hearing to give an appearance of large attendance.
On his problems with the NHPC vis a vis Stage-IV, the MLA pointed out that MoU between the State Government and the NHPC was for a 490 MW project with strict guidelines that the Namprikdang ground should not be submerged given its religious and emotional quotient with the Dzongu residents.
The Power Minister further informed that during discussions on this stipulation, NHPC engineers had stated that the Naprikang ground could be saved from submergence only if the capacity was reduced to 280 MW.
“This being the case, without even I as Power Minister or the Department having been taken into confidence, NHPC ungraded the capacity to 520 MW!” he revealed.
He went on to warn NHPC not to underestimate the people of the State and announced that he would also be raising the issue strongly in the concerned national forums.
The Minister clarified yesterday that he was in the favour of hydel projects “because they will bring development and prosperity to Sikkim”, and was upset because NHPC, with its questionable acts was seeding too many doubts in the minds of the people.
He alleged that the rock and soil investigations in the DPR of the said project were incorrect and desired that an independent agency carry out a fresh investigation into the viable capacity for the project.
He also called into question NHPC’s commitment to the State and its people by arguing that while the 18 September earthquake had received the support and assistance of people and agencies from around the world, NHPC had volunteered no such support to help the State overcome the devastation.