Gangtok: Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar
Chamling on Tuesday defended his government's decision to tap hydro
power resources for augmenting revenues for development of the
state even as he assured the Affected Citizens of Teesta
(ACT), opposed to the move, that their genuine concerns and
grievances will be addressed.
Addressing the ACT activities for the first time after
the outfit withdrew its 27-month long agitation last month, he
said that the state government had gone ahead with tapping its
hydro power resources to generate revenues and ensure all
round development in the state.
It must be understood by all that the state has limited
natural resources for generation of domestic revenues and at
the same time the hydro power potential worked out to be a
tempting proposition for development to sustain the state
economy in the long term, Chamling said.
It was in the larger public interest that the state
government went ahead with the award of 29 projects to the
developers so that Sikkim may become self-dependent in terms
of economy through accrual of revenue from the hydro power
projects, the Chief Minister said.
The general public interests and the impact of the hydro
power projects on the ecology and environment of the Himalayan
state too were taken into account while going ahead with the
projects, Chamling said.
On the ACT's contention that the hydel projects at Dzongu
posed a threat to the socio-cultural and religious ethos of
the indigenous Lepcha people, the Chief Minister said that the
majority in the area favoured hydel projects and had elected
the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) nominee Sonam Gyatso
Lepcha as their MLA.
However, the state government has respect for opposite
views, he said and asked the ACT to submit their demands to
the high powered committed headed by the Chief Secretary for
redressal.
The ACT Chief Coordinator Tseten Lepcha said that the
organisation always wanted the state government to hear their
grievances, but it did not work out, prompting them to carry
on with the agitation.
The ACT had called off its 27-month agitation against the
proposed projects at Dzongu in North Sikkim on September 27.
The ACT had hailed the state government's decision to
engage in dialogue with it but said that it was keeping all
its option, including judicial remedy, open if the dialogue
failed to address its concerns.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 18:28