Teesta warning for dam residents

Gangtok: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited has asked the residents of Dikchu, the site of a 95m-high dam for the Teesta hydel project, to keep off the area from the last week of December when water would be filled up in the reservoir.

“People are advised to remove their belongings including cattle that may get submerged by the dam’s water. They are also advised not to go near the dam or its banks,” reads a public notice issued by the NHPC in Nepali.

The NHPC’s Teesta Stage V project in Balutar, East Sikkim, about 30km from here, will produce 510mw of hydel power. The dam is located at Dikchu, another 15km away.

The level of water and its flow will increase and decrease in the event of filling in and discharge of water from the dam.

Sirens at the project and dam sites have been set up to warn the residents before discharging water. “But people may land in trouble if the siren does not function or if they ignore the warning.” If people ignore the warning, the NHPC will not be responsible, the notice reads.

The first unit of the project, which will generate 170mw is expected to be commissioned in January 2008. The other two units with a capacity of 170mw each are likely to be functional in February and March respectively.

The project is being built at a cost of Rs 2,300 crore. The Sikkim government will get 12 per cent free power from it annually which will generate nearly Rs 80-85 crore of revenue. Construction work for the project had begun in February 2001.

Clean-river drive

The Bengal government has decided to clean several rivers in the state after finishing work on the Ganga.

“After Nirmal Ganga, we will carry out the Nirmal Nadi Abhijan (clean river drive),” environment minister Sailen Sarkar said.

Cleaning of the Teesta, Torsa and the Mahananda in north Bengal and Ajoy, Saraswati, Damodar, Rupnarayan and the Matla in the south will be held next year.

Source: The Telegraph