Lepchas against power project in Sikkim held

Affected Citizens of Teesta activists were arrested at Dzongu in North Sikkim for allegedly damaging machinery and equipment of a firm officially engaged to set up a hydro electricity power project in the area. Mostly made up of people from the Lepcha community, the ACT is opposed to power projects in North Sikkim, as the Lepchas consider the land sacred.

According to Ms Mayalmit Lepcha, who is part of the ACT team that has mounted a relay hunger strike opposing the project, three of the arrested are monks and seven are women. The arrests were made following an FIR lodged by Mr Shekhar Gupta, general manager of Himgari Hydro Energy Pvt. Ltd., that has been entrusted with the responsibility of setting up the power project, against Mr Dawa Tshering Lepcha and other ACT members. MORE...