Affected Citizens of Teesta
Sikkim Voters Today May Decide the Dam Issue
The Lepcha anti-dam group Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) tried last week to focus voters in Sikkim on the proposed hydropower dams that would destroy the sanctity of the Dzongu reserve. Indian national and state elections will be held in the state of Sikkim today, April 30. Campaigning in the state has aroused politicians to […]
Lepcha Activists Arrested for Protesting Dam Construction
The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) was back in the news last week due to acts of vandalism at a power dam under construction in the Dzongu region of Sikkim. ACT, the group that is leading the opposition by the Lepchas to hydropower dams in their mountains, demanded the unconditional release of 43 of its […]
Sacred Lepcha Landscapes Saved by Stories and Activists [journal article review]
Dorjee Tshering Lepcha sits on his floor cross-legged every morning and chants, asking the spirits to forgive him for any intrusions he might make that day against nature. He plays a tune on his flute to welcome the day and to add to the sincerity of his plea in advance for forgiveness. The room where […]
Teesta Campaign an Example for Northeast India
A conference about dams held in India’s Assam State last week featured a presentation by a Lepcha activist that described the successful campaign against hydropower projects in the Teesta Valley. The two day meeting in Guwahati, a major city in northeastern India, was sponsored by PANOS South Asia, part of the international network of PANOS […]
Lepcha Victory Over Dam Builders
Young Lepcha activists fighting the destruction of their lands in the Dzongu region of Sikkim have won a major victory. The Indian press reported last week that the state government of Sikkim has agreed to cancel plans for four modest-sized dams in the Dzongu, a region in the north of the Indian state that is […]
Lepcha Hunger Strike Resumes
The Lepchas have resumed their hunger strike, protesting plans for a huge power dam on the Teesta River that threatens the integrity of their sacred Dzongu Reserve in North Sikkim. Dawa Lepcha, Tenzing Lepcha, and Gebu Lepcha began the strike on Monday last week. Acting once again under the aegis of the group Affected Citizens […]
Lepcha Protests Continue Over Dam Threat
Protests by the Lepchas about the Sikkim government’s plans to build dams which would damage their sacred Dzongu reserve have continued over the past few months. While protesters demonstrate and politicians argue, the first huge dam on the Teesta River, a 510 MW project referred to as Teesta V, is set to be completed in […]
Lepchas Continue Protests Over Proposed Dams
Turmoil among the Lepchas, caused by proposed hydropower dams near their communities in northern Sikkim, has increased over the past five weeks. A report on July 18th indicates that the Lepchas in Dzongu are growing increasingly resentful that the government of the Indian state of Sikkim is ignoring their protests. The article describes the divisions […]
Dam Building Threatens Sacred Lepcha Landscape
Lepcha leaders have started a hunger strike to protest the construction of a hydropower dam that threatens the natural and sacred environment of the Teesta River in Sikkim. The Teesta drains south out of the Himalayas and falls thousands of feet through the mountains before emptying into the Brahamaputra River in Bangladesh. The projected dam, […]
