Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

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In Sikkim, the provincial government has awarded contracts to private operators for 26 large hydropower projects on the Teesta River, seven of which would affect Dzongu province.

 

The Teesta River flows through the length of Sikkim, down through the Darjeeling Hills past the Sitong Valley and is considered to be the lifeline of the state. The proposed Teesta IV Dam and its construction, especially the intake tunnel, would destroy a sacred lake that is believed to be the heart of where the Lepcha clan originated.

 

 

 

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To date, the government of Sikkim has scrapped 10 dams, due to local opposition. People are concerned about the impacts of the dams on the environment and their way of life.

 

 

 

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The Lepcha argue that the large migrant worker population, mainly from the plains, that will arrive during the construction of the dams will threaten their society’s social and cultural fabric.

 

 

 

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So while the form of oppression may have changed from pseudo-religious to hydro-electric, essentially the same system is operant now as before, threatening tribal peoples everywhere. Perhaps one day a myth will be created to memorialize it. If so, the Lepcha (and other Tribals) will be portrayed as evil demons who blocked progress before being defeated by the saintly and enlightened industrialists.

 

 

 

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But whether it is in India, South America or elsewhere in the world, the vanishing tribes haunt our dreams.

 

 

 

 

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And our Conscience.

 

 

 

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They remind us of what we, enslaved to what we call progress, have irrevocably lost.

 

The Last Free People

 

 

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Sittong is also known as the 'Lepcha village'. The valley is commonly known as 'Orange Valley'. Every tiny house has a garden. And every garden has an orange grove. Situated in a deep valley beside the Riyang River, it is one of the most untouched parts of the foothills, yet is only 50 kilometres from Darjeeling itself. It is the impassibility of the precipitous and poorly maintained mountain road that has so far sheltered it from exploitation, in addition to which, no-one but the Lepcha can own the land. The Homestay lodge in which we are staying is entirely owned and run by local people.

 

It is Monday 28th November. The three of us have gone for a wander along the serpentine road that coils up out of the far side of the valley. It is late in the afternoon, and Purnabha and Lucina have decided to head back to the lodge. Already the light is failing down in the valley. I decide to carry on walking, racing the sunset as the road climbs steeply upward. Along the way I encounter local people, none of whom seem to have heard that a foreigner is in the valley. Eventually I am forced to turn back, disappointed that I have not made it to the top... but there is always tomorrow....

 

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