Landslide on NHPC’s Teesta V hydropower project in Sikkim damages the 55-metre high dam
A massive landslide has severely damaged the dam of the Teesta V Hydropower Project. This is a wake up call against major interventions in the Teesta Valley including the hydropower projects.
Photo: Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast
This photo is possibly the worst advertisement for a hydropower project with landslide rocks sitting on top of the dam. A massive landslide has severely damaged the 55-metre high dam of the 510 MW Teesta Hydropower Project of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), possibly in late hours on June 26, 2020 or early hours of June 27, 2020. This is a major blow to NHPC, considered India’s premier hydropower company. It’s also a major blow to the propaganda of International Hydropower Association, falsely pushing this very project as an example under IHA’s Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol[i].
The first news of this came when Central Water Commission’s Flood Forecasting division tweeted at 11:20 am on June 27, 2020.
A video post on FB page of The Voice of Sikkim said: “Life of Aapdara (village) at risk. NHPC Stage-V Dam lies 90 degree below Aapdara village in which 27 families reside. Long pending demand of public to vacate their land is still pending since 2015. But still unsolved from the sides of NHPC and district administration.”
Video report from the Voice of Sikkim FB page:
Another FB post, with a photo from The Voice of Sikkim just before that said: “Lum village of Lower Dzongu of North Sikkim cut off from the rest of the district. Massive landslide occurred at Dam top of NHPC Stage-V below Aapdara, East Sikkim.”
PTI news says dam damaged
A PTI report at 7.30 pm on June 27, 2020 said: “A massive landslide caused severe damage to a dam of the NHPC Teesta Stage-V project site at Apdara in East Sikkim, they said.”
At just after 10 pm, East Mojo reported: “On Friday night, a landslide at NHPC Teesta Stage-V dam on the left bank of the river in Dikchu has cut off Lum and Lingtyang villages of Lower Dzongu, North Sikkim from the rest of the districts. Locals of Jang and Aapdara, however, argue the landslide was due to the negligence of NHPC, and it could have been avoided with proper preventive work on time. Even movement of people now is not possible at the location with boulders and debris stocked at the top of the dam.”
Official NHPC twitter handle had no information about this as I write this, nor any denial. We will update this blog as we get more information.
While ongoing heavy rainfall in Sikkim is surely one of the immediate factors, there are a number of others, including the construction and operation of the hydropower project and the way the hydropower company dealing with the key issues over the issues. Only an independent inquiry can lead to right conclusions.
A Telegraph news on June 28 quoted NHPC official denying any damage to dam. It said: “Mangan received 500 mm rain these past four days. More rain is forecast over the next 48 hours, especially the next 24 hours,” said a Met official. With more rains predicted over the next 48 hours, the situation is expected to worsen.”
A DNA report said: “However, reports suggest that the dam has not suffered significant damages.”
As Gyatso Lepcha wrote on FB: “Landslide over the Dikchu NHPC Stage Stage V – 510 MW Dam: Who’s going to assess the damage to the DAM? How are we gonna believe the report, for the sake of downstream community there is need of transparent report on safety of DAM, is it safe to hold back the reservoir? Lot need to be answered, downstream community of Makha Singtam Melli Rangpo should be alerted.”
Warning for Teesta valley
This is yet another wake up call against major interventions in the Teesta Valley including hydropower projects. When a team of us visited Sikkim in May 2008, even then during our review of the Teesta V project showed landslide as a major issue, made worse by the project. The Teesta Carrying Capacity Study that was commissioned as one of the bargains while reluctantly providing approval for the Teesta V project, warned about the inherent landslide risks of the Teesta Valley, which would get worse with every major intervention like dam or tunnel for hydropower project. Now that hydropower is no longer even economically viable, we hope the people and government of Sikkim will wake up to the new reality and stop all ongoing and new hydropower projects.
End notes:
[i] https://sandrp.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/314d1-teesta-vassessmentreport_sept192019_final.pdf
This article has been sourced from SANDRP. You can read the original article here.