When Bhutia tribals in Sikkim state forced the scrapping of a hydel project close to the Kanchenjunga massif, it was an example of people in the Himalayas refusing to trade traditional homelands for doubtful development. The 30-MW project to harness the Rathong Chu river was modest but its scrapping has put paid to ambitious plans to tap Sikkim's estimated 8,000 MWs of Hydroelectric potential.