Dams, Rivers & People (DRP)

We arrived at Chadong village and went straight to the village headman’s home, on higher ground. It was half 10 in the morning. I recall the time as we were served lunch on arrival. Most families in Manipur – a state in northeast India – wake at dawn, eat soon after, and thus lunch is served well before noon. They have good metabolism given the mountain of white rice that is consumed in their daily diet. Unlike their flatland countrymen, I saw not a single pot-bellied man in the village. But I digress. Last month, I was invited to Chadong to take part in a seminar on forest rights. On a

Earlier this year, in March, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) asked four members of its Standing Committee comprising wildlife and conservation experts to carry out a site inspection for a 520 MW hydroelectric project on the river Teesta in the Indian state of Sikkim. This was in pursuance of the Teesta-IV project seeking statutory clearance from the wildlife perspective, as it is located 4 km from the Fambong Lho wildlife sanctuary; the NBWL must assess a project when it is located within 10 km of a designated wildlife park or sanctuary. The site inspection report, finalised in August a