Mukesh Sharma
Kalimpong, January 14:
As per the information received from the sources, most of the Koiris are at a state of being closed. The closing will further become one of the major factors of unemployment of those people who work there as daily wage labourers.
Not only this, now the Highway without parapets, face the risks of road accidents. People now opine that even a minor fault by the drivers will lead to major accidents.
Apart from it, the people also believe that since the Teesta River has stopped flowing, the surrounding areas will face air pollution as the garbage dumped in the river will not be flown away.
In one hand, the area people do not know whether the power generated by the NHPC will be given to them or not. While in the other, the political parties are worried about adverse effects of the river affected areas.
The NGOs claim that the Power Projects which is believed to boon the entire country has proved to a bane for the area people. It is pushing the future of the hills into darkness, they say.
“Though power generation is good, it is not at all correct to generate it by killing the public”, said the Gorkha Dukh Niwarak Sammelan (GDNS), Kalimpong President, Uday Kumai.
It has already affected the daily wage labourers at large and in the near future it will also affect the Highway negatively, he added.
“The NHPC has not clarified the public how and until where the people will be affected and even we are in darkness”, he said.
He also questioned, when will the issues of the Koiri workers get solved?
Labeling it as a serious issue, Kumai insisted that the NHPC should make alternate arrangements. Saying that even the GDNS is worried about the same, he said that travelling through the Highway has become another issue.
“We are scared that the National Highway will be engulfed by this project”, he expressed.
Even the Secretary of the Hill Social Welfare Society (HSWS), Shobha Chettri is tensed about the issue.
Likewise, Shamsher Ali of Piranhas Club mentioned that even the environment is being hampered by the project. He said that the rare species of fishes found in the River Teesta is on the verge of extinction and the forests will be destroyed.
Further, Ali notified that the sensitive areas such as Chibo, Tashiding, Bhalukhop, etc are reeling under danger of landslides.
As per the Kalimpong Sangrakshan Samiti Secretary, Sonam T Bhutia, the Power Project is a curse.