Sikkim's bid to tap its hydel capacity has suffered a major blow with the Centre directing the state not to proceed with construction of six projects.
Sikkim's bid to tap its hydel capacity for long term revenue generation has suffered a major blow with the Centre directing the state government not to proceed with construction of six projects with projected capacity of 1047 MW, according to an official source.
Various formalities like land acquisition and survey works by the developers at the six projects have been stopped after the union environment ministry wrote a terse letter last month suggesting that these projects were unviable citing a study report by an independent body, the source said.
The environment ministry has taken the report by the New Delhi-based Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies of Mountains and Hill Environment (CISME) and derailed six proposed hydel projects in north Sikkim, they said, adding that the state government has no option but to put the project on hold.
The projects affected by the Centre's directive include Teesta stage I (280 MW), Teesta Stage II (330 MW), Lachen (120 MW), BOP (99 MW) and Bimkyong (99 MW) and Lachung (99MW).
Incidentally, the National Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC) whose Initial Public Offering (IPO) is expected to hit the equity market next month is one of the developers to lose out with its proposed Lachen project (99 MW) being among the six projects affected by the Centre's directive.
Stung with the manner in which it has been asked to roll back six hydel projects, the state government has questioned the reliability of the CISME report.
The topography at Dikchu and Chungthang could not be made to be the same which the study team of CISME had sought to do so to arrive at its conclusion about the carrying capacity of Teesta river which the Centre had relied upon to direct the state government to virtually scrap the six hydel projects in question, the source said.
Expressing disapproval of the CISME report, the source said that the state government would soon write to the Centre to review the CISME report and the former might set up its own team to study the carrying capacity of Teesta river before taking a final call on the affected projects.
"The state government is also facing an embarasssing situation with five private developers, like Himalayan Green Energy Private Ltd, New Delhi; Him Urja Infra Private Ltd, New Delhi; Teesta Power Private Ltd, New Delhi; Chungthang Power Ltd, New Delhi and Lachung Power Private Ltd, New Delhi, as all are asking to resolve the problem," the source said.
Some of these developers have submitted the detailed project report while others have spent huge money on survey works.
Chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, who has been in power since 1994, had hit upon an ingenious idea at the beginning of this decade to tap its hydel resources for economic self reliance and had accordingly sanctioned 26 hydel projects for generation of 5257 MW energy by 2012-13.
Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who had earlier this month visited Sikkim to dedicate to nation 510 MW Teesta Stage V project, had commended Chamling for tapping the hydro resources of the state for economic benefit.
With the country needing more power to meet the regular shortfall, the state government may seek the intervention of the union power minister to prevail upon the environment ministry to reconsider its decision on six hydel projects, the source said.
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