Affected people gherao Dikchu HEP site; Will not allow work to begin without clear commitments from project developer

WANGCHUK BHUTIA
MANGAN, 14 April: The affected people of the 96 MW Dikchu Hydel Power Project staged a protest against the project-developer, Sneha Kinetic Power Project Ltd., accusing it of not having entertained the affected people while awarding various project-related works despite a standing commitment to do so.
The affected youth, including All Sikkim Demcratic Labour Front executive members from its branch office at Dikchu headed by their president, Ezekiel Lepcha, gheraoed the power house site on Thursday and stopped work at the project office in Dikchu.
The protestors were upset that a meeting scheduled to be held yesterday to discuss these issues had to be cancelled when the head of the SKPPL failed to turn up.
The demonstrators insist that they are raising demands based on the MoU and specifically the company’s undertaking to carry out protective works at 12th Mile Basti located right above the power house. This commitment remains undelivered and cracks have already started snaking up buildings there, as have already been reported from an ICDS Center located in the village.
The demands also include Rehabilitation & Resettlement Package for the land oustees, employment for the affected people and award of contract works.
The employment rolls of Drillcon Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, an SKKPL sub-contractor for the project, reveals that out of 120 employees, only 18 are local people and even these employed as helpers, cooks, sweepers, drivers and supervisors. This, at a time when many job applications of local candidates recommended by the area MLA and panchayat remain unattended.
To solve the matter, a meeting was held at power house complex in the afternoon between the local people, including ASDLF members, and the SKPPL represented by its General Manager, AK Dutta.
The matter could not be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction because the SKPPL GM could not assure anything claiming that these need to be cleared by the senior management, whose permission he will need to take before signing to any agreement.
The work at Power house site remains closed, and the protestors announced today that they will not allow work to resume until a clear commitment is made by the project developer on their demands.