Plea to stall work on power projects

BIJOY GURUNG

Gangtok, Nov. 18: A section of villagers from West Sikkim today pleaded to the governor to stop work on the two power projects on the Rathong Chu till a review was completed. Three mega projects had been proposed on the Rathong Chu, considered sacred by the Buddhists. While the 96 MW Lethang project has already been rejected by the National Board for Wildlife under the Union ministry for environment and forest, the 99 MW Ting Ting project has received environmental clearance and work on the 97 MW Tashiding power project started six months ago. Today residents of Tashiding, Yangthang and the adjoining areas under the banner of Save Sikkim told governor B.P. Singh that “a wide crack has appeared on the land surface” above the under-construction tunnel at the Tashiding project in Amblok village after the September 18 quake. “The crack, some 5km above the tunnel, was noticed after the earthquake and it is wide and deep enough to swallow a person or cattle. People of 11 villages under Yangtey gram panchayat, over which the tunnel passes, fear an impending disaster,” said Save Sikkim member Prabhu Ram Kharka. “The projects are being reviewed by both the state and the Centre and we demand that the tunnel construction be stopped till the assessment is over,” he said. The members have said if the work is not stopped in a week, they will organise protests. “We have support from most parts of West Sikkim and one youth from every house in Yangtey will join the protest,” said Kharka.(the telegraph)