Gangtok, Oct. 30: The relay hunger strike by the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) entered its 500th day today. The organisation has been spearheading a movement against mega hydel projects in Sikkim.
The fast has been going on since June 20 last year at BL House in Sonam Gyatso Marg here.
“We are thinking of devising a new strategy of protest against the hydel projects. Our members will meet soon to decide on new plans,” said Dawa T. Lepcha, the general secretary of ACT, here today.
Lepcha had also led indefinite hunger strikes on two occasions, one lasting for 67 and the other for 106 days.
He, however, did not reveal what the new plans were going to be.
In the morning, ACT members held a puja at the site while the rest of the state celebrated bhai tika. Monks from the Sangha at Dzongu were also present at the ceremony.
Commenting on the decision by the Sikkim government to hand over scrapped projects to its original developers, Lepcha said the state as well as the power department should stick to its decision and not deviate from it.
Last month, the government had decided to review its decision to scrap several hydel projects in a bid to placate private power developers who had moved the high court challenging the termination of some of them.
The state cabinet handed over three of the 11 shelved projects to their original developers.
Although the ACT hunger strike entered the 500-day mark, the movement, in recent times, had become sluggish. There have been no major activities other than the hunger strike at BL House.
Last month, an ACT delegation went to Delhi to meet representatives of several ministries like environment, power and tribal affairs.
Lepcha claimed that the delegation members had driven home their demands to the powers that be in Delhi and the results would be evident soon.
“We have submitted memorandums as well as power-point presentations on the hydel issue and the protest in Sikkim,” said Lepcha. The focus had been loss of habitat in the delicate Himalayan mountains and the problems that the ongoing projects and the commissioned ones are facing.
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