RTI reveals stalled hydropower projects in Sikkim
5 Sep, 2012As revealed by the reply to an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Government of Sikkim had signed Implementation Agreements in 2005 for developing hydro power projects including the 99MW Lachung, 99MW Bhimkyong and 99MW BOP hydropower projects by Lachung hydropower private limited, Teesta hydropower private limited and Chungthang hydropower private limited.
Earlier in 1999, Ministry of Environment and Forest announced that no projects would be accorded environmental clearance in Sikkim above Chungthang region due to fragile ecology of the region and the potential hazards as revealed by carrying capacity study report. Government of Sikkim formed the North Sikkim Hydropower Developers Consortium in 2009 to prepare a detailed report to address the various issues raised by the report.
During all this the projects suffered time lag and no progress on the projects was made. Finally in 2012, the Cabinet decided to terminate the Implementation Agreements signed by the government of Sikkim with these developers, citing immense delay in project execution by the developer as the reason. Now, the three project developers have filed separate writ petitions before the Sikkim High Court against decision of the Sikkim Government to terminate the projects.