Joint survey for alternative road

A joint team of the state forest department and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) will make a survey of the Riang forests near Rambhi in Kalimpong subdivision on 25 August to identify the land for an alternative road to Takdah in Darjeeling subdivision.
The agitating Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha has closed down the NHPC's Teesta Low Dam Project -III (TLDP-III) at Rambhi since yesterday over the demand for an alternative road between 27th Mile (near Rambhi) and Takdah. Portions of the existing road have been badly damaged by the dam's construction.
Confirming the proposed recce, the divisional forest officer Darjeeling, Mr GP Chhetri however, said that the joint visit would be ‘informal in nature'.
“The NHPC authorities here requested me to be part of the team and make a recce of the area through which the alternative road may pass and I obliged'. The visit will be an informal one as the forest department has not yet received a formal application from NHPC asking for the transfer of necessary land,” Mr Chhetri said.
There is also a difference of opinion between the GJMM and the NHPC over the proposed alignment of the alternative road.
While the NHPC is willing to construct a 500-metre long diversion bypassing the damaged portion of the existing road, the GJMM is demanding that the agency constructs a near two-kilometre new stretch to Takdah connecting a few new villages. The GJMM is also demanding compensation for the households at Kamzet village, which were allegedly damaged by the NHPC's mud cutting below. The GJMM Takdah Teesta Valley unit today reiterated that the TLDP-III closure would continue until and unless the NHPC takes some solid steps with regard to the demands.

Courtesy: The Statesman

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