editorial:
The flash-flood which swept through Dikchu Khola on May-Day washed away a bridge and pieces of equipment maintained at a hydel project site near Dikchu. The timing was propitious because no work was underway at the site on the day, otherwise the surging waters which swept away tonnes of equipment could have easily exacted some fatalities as well. Such incidents have happened at hydel project sites in the past, with the deaths at the Rangpo HEP at Lamaten [beyond Rongli in East Sikkim] in April 2009 still a fresh and disturbing memory. Eleven labourers had drowned, trapped inside a tunnel when a flash-flood came crashing into the work-site that year. It had taken nearly a week to recover all the dead bodies. While accepting that accidents cannot always be averted, what was obvious in the 2009 mishap was that adequate safety measures had not been put in place. When it comes to labour safety, ‘adequate’ measures are never volunteered, they have to be dictated and enforced by the State. In the initial days of the Rongli mishap, there was much talk of making project sites safer; some construction site safety regulations which have been enforced since then were probably expedited by this accident. Unfortunately, even these new regulations are neither implemented, nor enforced. Since it is labour rights [safety is a right, isn’t it?] one is speaking of here, the reminder which came calling on their day, May Day, should be taken seriously.
As mentioned, accidents, especially when dealing with labour-intensive projects on unstable hills and along temperamental hill streams, cannot always be averted, which is probably why the safest working conditions should be made the norm for every project in Sikkim and adequate foresight deployed while deciding what the working conditions should be. The mishap at the Rangpo HEP in April 2009 and at the damage reported from Dikchu HEP in May 2011 are credited to flash-floods. A flash flood is one of the most violent manifestations of a hill stream, but it would be wrong to believe that it is always unexpected. A basic understanding of mountain streams, the terrain and genuine concern for safety can easily ensure that a flash flood does not take people by surprise. It is important for project developers to install an early warning system at work sites and this has to be more than someone watching the water level at the site itself. Anyone who knows about mountains and its streams, knows that it’s the water course that needs to be watched – the early warning systems are no use in the dam site valley, they have to be in the catchment areas from where the stream drains. A flash-flood may be sudden, but its creation is not. In Sikkim hills, a flash flood can occur only from two reasons – a cloud burst or a landslide higher up in its course which creates a natural dam which bursts when the water pressure becomes too strong for the debris to hold back. In both cases, even if a wall of water were to course down [in Chujachen’s case, the stream is said to have risen 20 metres within minutes!], even the most rudimentary ‘early warning’ system upstream will provide adequate warning at least to save the lives, if not the heavy equipment. No such early warning system has obviously been put in place. In the Dikchu incident, it is possible that heavy rainfall on the Chola range caused the flood, because almost simultaneously, Yali-Chu, which drains from the other side of the hill, also flooded on Sunday. There has to be some system in place for hydel project developers to get real-time updates on rainfall intensity along the catchment area.
Most of the times, after such an incident, the project developers will have us believe that the flooding was unprecedented. Ill-preparedness is bad enough, but such ignorance is a disturbing absurdity because it suggests that the project developers do not understand the waters they hope to harness. Hydel is being promoted as Sikkim’s industry for the future, working conditions at its project sites cannot be allowed to remain primitive and ad hoc if Sikkim hopes to profit from its natural resource with a clear conscious.
The flash-flood which swept through Dikchu Khola on May-Day washed away a bridge and pieces of equipment maintained at a hydel project site near Dikchu. The timing was propitious because no work was underway at the site on the day, otherwise the surging waters which swept away tonnes of equipment could have easily exacted some fatalities as well. Such incidents have happened at hydel project sites in the past, with the deaths at the Rangpo HEP at Lamaten [beyond Rongli in East Sikkim] in April 2009 still a fresh and disturbing memory. Eleven labourers had drowned, trapped inside a tunnel when a flash-flood came crashing into the work-site that year. It had taken nearly a week to recover all the dead bodies. While accepting that accidents cannot always be averted, what was obvious in the 2009 mishap was that adequate safety measures had not been put in place. When it comes to labour safety, ‘adequate’ measures are never volunteered, they have to be dictated and enforced by the State. In the initial days of the Rongli mishap, there was much talk of making project sites safer; some construction site safety regulations which have been enforced since then were probably expedited by this accident. Unfortunately, even these new regulations are neither implemented, nor enforced. Since it is labour rights [safety is a right, isn’t it?] one is speaking of here, the reminder which came calling on their day, May Day, should be taken seriously.
As mentioned, accidents, especially when dealing with labour-intensive projects on unstable hills and along temperamental hill streams, cannot always be averted, which is probably why the safest working conditions should be made the norm for every project in Sikkim and adequate foresight deployed while deciding what the working conditions should be. The mishap at the Rangpo HEP in April 2009 and at the damage reported from Dikchu HEP in May 2011 are credited to flash-floods. A flash flood is one of the most violent manifestations of a hill stream, but it would be wrong to believe that it is always unexpected. A basic understanding of mountain streams, the terrain and genuine concern for safety can easily ensure that a flash flood does not take people by surprise. It is important for project developers to install an early warning system at work sites and this has to be more than someone watching the water level at the site itself. Anyone who knows about mountains and its streams, knows that it’s the water course that needs to be watched – the early warning systems are no use in the dam site valley, they have to be in the catchment areas from where the stream drains. A flash-flood may be sudden, but its creation is not. In Sikkim hills, a flash flood can occur only from two reasons – a cloud burst or a landslide higher up in its course which creates a natural dam which bursts when the water pressure becomes too strong for the debris to hold back. In both cases, even if a wall of water were to course down [in Chujachen’s case, the stream is said to have risen 20 metres within minutes!], even the most rudimentary ‘early warning’ system upstream will provide adequate warning at least to save the lives, if not the heavy equipment. No such early warning system has obviously been put in place. In the Dikchu incident, it is possible that heavy rainfall on the Chola range caused the flood, because almost simultaneously, Yali-Chu, which drains from the other side of the hill, also flooded on Sunday. There has to be some system in place for hydel project developers to get real-time updates on rainfall intensity along the catchment area.
Most of the times, after such an incident, the project developers will have us believe that the flooding was unprecedented. Ill-preparedness is bad enough, but such ignorance is a disturbing absurdity because it suggests that the project developers do not understand the waters they hope to harness. Hydel is being promoted as Sikkim’s industry for the future, working conditions at its project sites cannot be allowed to remain primitive and ad hoc if Sikkim hopes to profit from its natural resource with a clear conscious.
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