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Dharna against mega power project

Kanwar Yogendra

Protest against 1000-MW Karcham-Wangtoo hydel project being constructed on the Sutlej

SHIMLA: The villagers of tribal Kinnaur district are up in arms against a new 1000-MW Karcham-Wangtoo mega hydel project being constructed on the Sutlej. More than 450 villagers are now sitting on a day-night dharna at three locations, stalling the construction of the controversial project.

"We are continuing the agitation on the directions of Maheshwari Devta, the all-powerful local deity who had even summoned the Chief Minister," says environmentalist R.S. Negi, a former IAS officer and convener of the Sangharsh Samiti spearheading the protest against the project.

Speaking to The Hindu on telephone from Rekong Peo, he charged that the district administration was "terrorising" the locals by deploying additional police force to help the company resume the construction work.

Mr. Negi alleged that Jaypee Industries, which is constructing the project, had violated all constitutional and ecological safeguards.

District BJP leader Tejwant Negi accused the Government of turning the project sites into police cantonments. In a statement, he said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who had opposed the project during BJP rule and had promised to close it had now switched his stand and was fooling the innocent tribals.

The CPI (M) and its mass youth organisation Democratic Youth Federation of India, who were instrumental in starting the agitation, are demanding a proper compensation for the displaced population. Very few villagers have been compensated with the promised rehabilitation package so far, said sources. A majority of the population in the villages under which the 17.5 km long tunnel has to pass have been overlooked, they said.

A number of villages in Kinnaur that had been affected during the construction of the Nathpa Jhakri Hydel Project are still waiting for any rehabilitation package, it is pointed out. The 45 uprooted families of Khandhar village are still living in makeshift shanties, say the agitators.

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Dharna against mega power project

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