2 hydel units by Dec

Takdah, Nov. 26: The NHPC Limited said today that two units of the Teesta Low Dam Project-III would start generating power by December 31. The units would yield 64MW. It is the first of the two projects on the Teesta to become operational in the district. S.R. Roy, the executive director of NHPC, said: “The project will be commissioned by December 31. We will make two of the units at TLDP-III operational and the remaining two will be made functional by January end. The two units (to be operational in December) will generate 64MW (together). When all the four units become operational, TLDP-III will be able to generate 132MW.” There are five hydel projects on the Teesta out of which three are in Sikkim and two, TLDP-III and IV, are in Darjeeling. Two of the three projects in Sikkim, TLDP-V in Singtam (510MW) and TLDP-II in Rangit (62MW) have already been commissioned. In Darjeeling, TLDP-III is in Rambi, 70km from Darjeeling, and TLDP-IV is in Kalijhora, 75km from Darjeeling. “We are looking at commissioning the 160MW TLDP-IV by September 2013,” said Roy.

Most of the electricity generated by the projects is likely to be drawn up by the state. “A memorandum of agreement had been signed between the NHPC and the Bengal government (in 2003) and the state government had expressed willingness to buy all the electricity generated from these two projects. It is up to the Union power minister to decide whether the entire electricity will be given to Bengal or shared with other states,” Roy said. According to NHPC reports, TLDP-III was supposed to be completed by 2008 while TLDP-IV was to be commissioned a year later. When asked about the delay, Roy said: “We faced difficulties as there was lot of flooding at the sites in 2007 and 2009.” According to NHPC’s 2002 estimates, the Rambi project was supposed to cost Rs 768.92 crore and TLDP-IV was a Rs 1,061.38 crore project.

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Settlers refuse to pay tax - 400 business families in Sikkim demand exemption

Gangtok, Nov. 26: Around 400 business families in the state have turned down a request by the income tax department to file their returns and have demanded the same tax exemption which applies to people holding Sikkim subject certificates. The Chogyal dynasty had issued the Sikkim subject certificates to the people living in Sikkim in 1961 under the Sikkim Subject Regulation Act of 1961. The 400 business families, also known as “old settlers” had come to the state before 1975, the year Sikkim merged with India, but don’t possess Sikkim subject certificates. They allege discrimination and demand a tax exemption similar to the one enjoyed by the certificate holders.

“The new income tax commissioner in Siliguri, Subrato Sarkar, had convened a meeting with the old settlers in Gangtok last week. Alleging discrimination, they have refused to file their income tax returns,” said the general secretary of the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, Kailash Agarwal. Sikkim was a part of the Chogyal Dynasty and became a part of India on April 26, 1975. The central government had exempted Sikkim subject holders from paying income tax in 2008 after the amendment bill was passed in the Finance Act by the Parliament based on the state government’s request . “We have been raising the matter with the central government on the income tax evasion to the old settlers. But so far, there have been no response. We will not file the IT returns,” said Agarwal. “There are 400 families which have come to Sikkim before 1975. The list was prepared on the basis of government documents such as electricity bill, driving licence and trade licences” he added. “I have filed a petition with the Rajya Sabha Committee in 2008 and the hearing on the matter is still pending” said Prem Goyal, the chief co-ordinator of Nagrik Sangarsh Samity. “We are only the implementing agency and would comply with the income tax rules. We will again serve notices on those who are yet to file their returns” said an official source. The Sikkim Chamber of Commerce has also requested the income tax department to conduct sensitisation workshops for those people who need to file their returns.

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Permits from today for trips to East spots

Gangtok, Sept. 30: The government will resume issuing permits to visit Chhangu lake, Nathu-la and Baba Mandir in East Sikkim from tomorrow with the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg being repaired for lighter vehicles. The popular tourist destinations in the East district have been out of bounds for tourists since June when the J.N. Marg was blocked by multiple landslides. The check-post division of Sikkim police is the authority to issue the permits, for which each vehicle has to pay Rs 10. The permits are issued at the 2nd Mile police check-post when the tourists produce their photo identity cards and submit passport-size photos. The permits are mandatory as the three tourist spots are near to the China border with Chhangu lake, located 10km from the boundary, being the farthest. “The tourist season has already started in the state and with North Sikkim Highway being destroyed (by a flash flood on September 21), the tourism department has decided to issue permits to visit the East district from Monday,” said Chewang Rinzing, the additional secretary of the tourism department. The taxi fare for each tourist to visit Chhangu Lake and Baba Mandir is Rs 180.

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Police officer & car fall into Teesta

An SUV carrying the officer in charge of Rambi police station rolled down 100 feet into the Teesta in Kalimpong.Along with OC Shiv Sagar Chhetri (right), his friend Soumen Banerjee and the driver of the car are missing.

The accident happened at a place called Geilkhola, which is 17km from Kalimpong and on NH31A, on Saturday night. Banerjee is an employee of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. The driver’s name is Pritam Chhetri. Sources said the police officer was returning to Rambi after attending a programme. The accident happened at a point that had no crash barriers.

“The accident happened between 9.30pm and 10pm but we were unable to ascertain the cause of the mishap,” a police source said. Shiv Sagar Chhetri, 48, is a resident of Mangaldara, and took over as the OC of Rambi outpost on May 21. Banerjee, 35, is a resident of Saradapara in Siliguri and had been working at NHPC’s Teesta Low Dam Project at Rambi since 2004. Driver Pritam, 20, is a resident of Rambi. “We have pressed three rafts into the search operation (top), but have not managed to trace either of them or the vehicle. The strong current of the swelling Teesta must have swept them down stream. We will try tomorrow as well,” said Sukbir Tamang, the president of the Teesta-Rangeet River Rafting Association. Text by Rajeev Ravidas; picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

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