Sikkim Teetering On Flood Of GLOF Concerns As Teesta Dam Rebuild Plan Rolls On

1/31/2025 3:19:18 AM

(MENAFN- Live Mint) At midnight on October 3, 2023, a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) swallowed more than 100 lives, damaged 1,800 houses, and battered the 1,200 MW Teesta III hydel dam–Sikkim's biggest– built at a cost of ₹13,965-crore, to a defunct mode. That is apart from a deluge of untold human suffering inflicted on inhabitants of the northeastern state of Sikkim .

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Now, Sikkim seeks to rebuild Teesta Dam, first commissioned in 2017, at an estimated cost of ₹4,189 crore, to treble its previous capacity. The Union Environmental Ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has reportedly given the go-ahead to the project, which environmental activists fear would be detrimental to vast swathes of the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan state.

The political opposition's voice cannot reach the Sikkim Assembly on an issue that may have far-reaching consequences. There is no opposition in the State Assembly-all 32 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) are from the Sikkim Kranti Morcha-to raise the banner of revolt.

The BJP's state unit and some opposition parties have publicly voiced dissent, but the ruling Sikkim Kranti Morcha looks elsewhere.

The BJP–which heads the central dispensation that controls the union environment ministry but doesn't have political clout in the state–has opposed the reconstruction plan invoking the GLOF disaster, which impacted about 90,000 of the state's 6.32 lakh people–nearly one in seven inhabitants of Sikkim.

Vulnerable water bodies

There are 320 lakes in Sikkim and 16 of them have been identified as vulnerable, The Telegraph reported citing a State Government report. The National Disaster Management Authority and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation are conducting tests for the state government on these lakes, per The Telegraph report.

A key concern raised in the report, quoting an undentified Sikkim government official, is the distance between the lakes and nearest habitats, which is just three kilometres, underscoring the magnitude a probable natural disaster can trigger.

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