dams
Second Anniversary of Lepcha Hunger Strike
Last week, Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), the citizen pressure group trying to save the sacred Dzongu region of Sikkim from hydropower projects, entered its third year of hunger strikes. The government of Sikkim, a small state in the Himalayas on India’s northern border with Tibet, is planning numerous large dams to develop power which […]
Major Report Condemns New Dams in the Himalayas
The Business Standard of New Delhi reported last week that an American NGO, International Rivers, has released a significant report condemning the construction of new dams in the Himalayas. Titled “Mountains of Concrete,” the 44 page report (available as a PDF on the International Rivers website) declares that the proposed string of massive new hydropower […]
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 […]
First Anniversary of Satyagraha in Kerala
The Chalakudy River Protection Forum held several public meetings last week to celebrate the first anniversary of their satyagraha protests against a massive hydroelectric power project on the Chalakudy River. The dam construction project that the government of Kerala advocates would destroy critical forest habitat, wipe out a Kadar village, and reduce the water flow […]
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 […]
Kerala Dam Proposal Still Disputed
News articles from India four months ago made it sound as if the opponents of a proposed dam on Kerala’s Chalakudy River, which would destroy a Kadar village, may have been hopelessly defeated. But reports since early April have indicated that the opposition is alive, well, and still vigorously protesting. The dam construction has yet […]
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 […]
Lepchas of Dzongu Challenge Hydropower Dams
The current issue of Frontline, a major Indian magazine, carries an informative feature story on the proposed Dzongu hydroelectric projects and the threat they pose to the Lepcha community of Sikkim. The article presents arguments from all sides in the controversy. The government of Sikkim has proposed some 26 dams, many along the major river […]
