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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

PIL demands termination of Madhya Bharat PCL hydel project

GANGTOK, 03 Dec: Madhya Bharat Power Corporation Ltd which is developing a 96 MW hydel project in East Sikkim finds itself fighting yet another legal battle for its survival in Sikkim. This time, a public interest litigation has been filed by Karma Thinley Lama in the High Court, seeking, among other things, termination of the project.
The project developer is alleged to have violated various conditions leading to degradation of environment and adversely affecting the people in the affected area. In the year 2008, the State government had itself terminated its MoU with the developer but later the power developer approached the Courts and the matter was ‘settled’. The company has been continuing construction of the power project since then.
Today, a division bench of the High Court comprising acting Chief Justice NK Jain and Justice SP Wangdi heard the matter and verbally it was made known to the developer that it has to cater to the interests of the citizens as well as the environment.
While no interim order was passed today, the court did express that such companies could not just plunder the wealth of the state leaving the people as well as the natural resources high and dry.
It has been alleged that muck from the construction activity, instead of being dumped at a pre-designated site, as per the conditions, was being dumped into the Rani Khola; moreover it was brought to the notice of the court that the running water which irrigated the fields in the area had dried up due to the relentless construction activity thereby affecting the environment as well as the livelihood of the people of the area.
The court expressed that interests of the citizens was a priority and that suggestions made by the people had to be taken into account by the power developer.
The next date has been set for 12 December. It also needs to be highlighted that all hydroelectric projects have a multidisciplinary committee for monitoring and ensuring that guidelines and conditions are adhered to. This particular aspect of hydel power development in the state has been an acute and unfortunate failure.
As for the case concerning Madhya Bharat Power Corporation it is also alleged that its failure to start generating power is resulting in financial loss to the state. The project was supposed to start generating power in the year 2012 as per the MoU. However it is informed that the developer has sought time from the government till the year 2016. Had the project been commissioned the state would be earning close to Rs. 10 lakhs in revenue per month from it, it is informed.
In 2008, the MoU with the developer had been terminated as it had not met its financial closure or forwarded its Techo economic reports nor had it properly conducted its geological studies; its DPR, too, had not been properly prepared, it was alleged.

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