Students and young people are at the forefront of a protest against hydel projects that are being planned in Sikkim. AT THE VENUE of the relay fast that has continued in Gangtok since June 2007. The Affected Citizens of Teesta comprises students, professionals and former politicians. DAWA LEPCHA has a tube stuck up his nose. It goes right down to his stomach. Sometimes, while he is asleep, it moves and chokes him. But the tube is his only sustenance. The juices poured through it are the only nourishment that keeps him alive. Dawa Lepcha has been on a fast since March 10. Last year he fasted for 63 days. He and his friends are protesting against the dams on the river Teesta in Dzongu in north Sikkim, the home of the Lepchas, Sikkim's earliest inhabitants. These young men are in hospital, starving to make sure their tribe survives. "Tunnelling the Teesta' "The entire Teesta river is being tunnelled. The main river of Sikkim is disappearing underground. Is this development?' asks Dawa Lepcha. "Sikkim is a very small State, but very rich in biodiversity. If they are allowed to go ahead with the hydel projects, they will ravage, plunder and destroy everything.' The Sikkim government has discovered that there is money to be made from hydel power. It has proposed around 26 dams across the State. Of these, seven projects are in Dzongu. It is part of the Central government's master vision of the north-eastern region as "India's Future Power House', with around 168 dams planned. The projects are being cleared at any cost. Recently, Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference in Guwahati: "I want to check this MoU [memorandum of understanding] virus in the north-east.' Laws have been flouted to grant clearances. Environmental protection has taken a backseat. THE POWER HOUSE of the Teesta Phase 5 project. "They plan to build four dams inside the Kanchenjunga National Park, two inside the Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve and two on the border of the reserve. Most of Dzongu falls in the Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve. The biodiversity of the entire region is at stake,' says Dawa Lepcha. "We Lepchas are nature worshippers. Many of our holy lakes and springs are in Dzongu. We cannot let our sacred land be destroyed.' People of the ravine Lepchas are the indigenous people of Sikkim, but they constitute less than 7 per cent of its population. They call themselves rong-kup (people of the ravine). Over the past two centuries, Nepali migrants have outnumbered the Lepchas in their homeland. The Lepchas are now a minority, a dying race. The Lepcha population is now 40,000, of which around 7,000 live in Dzongu, near the magnificent Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain peak in the world. Dzongu, the holy land of the Lepchas, was a protected area even when Sikkim was an independent kingdom (Sikkim merged with the Union of India in 1975). Any outsider, even a Lepcha living outside Dzongu, has to apply for a permit to enter it. Only Lepchas from Dzongu can own land here. This was done to protect the sacred land, the dying community and its culture. "By building seven dams in the Lepcha-protected area, and allowing such a large influx of migrant labour, the government is violating its own laws. There are only 7,000 Lepchas in Dzongu. With just one project, we will be outnumbered. Our culture is under threat,' says Dawa Lepcha. Sitting on the hospital bed across Dawa Lepcha is Onchuk Lepcha. He has left his village Tingvong and come to Gangtok to join the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) hunger strike. "If the land is taken by industrialists, we will be refugees in our own land. It hurts us to see Dzongu being destroyed,' says Onchuk Lepcha. The ACT comprises students, professionals and former politicians who have come together to save the Teesta basin. It has not only Lepchas, but also members from the Bhutia community (Tibetans who migrated here several centuries ago) and environmental groups. Pro-dam movement To counter the ACT, politicians who want to see the project go through have started a pro-dam movement. They are organising rallies and have submitted a petition to the government asking for the dam projects to be implemented immediately. "Sikkim has the potential to generate 8,000 MW of power. We will get 12 per cent of the revenue from these projects. In every development project, there will be some minor destruction, but it's not much,' says Sonam Gecho Lepcha, a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Dzongu, who is leading the pro-dam lobby. He was earlier part of the anti-dam movement and promised to stop the dams during his election campaign. "No doubt there is some apprehension in my constituency, but the majority of people are in favour of the project. Why else would our party win in the local elections?' Politicians are using their clout to beat the locals into submission, allege ACT activists. "The MLAs are pressuring people to give their consent to the dams. Even my father was with them earlier. But now I have convinced him about how much damage the dams will do. Most of the politicians and big land owners want the dam so that they can make money,' says Onchuk Lepcha. "People in our villages are innocent. They don't understand the value of our land. Others can take advantage of them. That's why the educated Lepcha youth are fighting. We know the dangers,' Onchuk Lepcha explains. The dams will channel water through tunnels into an underground powerhouse. Sikkim's Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling claims to be a "green C.M.'. He claims that run-of-the river projects such as the Teesta dams involve smaller submergence of land as compared to storage dams, and hence cause less damage. However, construction of the Teesta Phase 5 project, the only dam which is almost complete, has proved otherwise. "The blasting of rocks to build the tunnels has resulted in the drying up of water sources and landslides in villages near the 23-km-long stretch. A lot of mud and debris has been dumped along the river banks,' says Dawa Lepcha. "Dry Streams' Close to the power house of Teesta Phase 5, we met Jung Bahadur Chetri, 70, from Singbel village. Though the State did not acquire his land for the dam, it has made him homeless. "Owing to the blasting, there are so many cracks in my house that it is not in a condition to live in. There are 20 of us in my family. We had to move to another person's house during the monsoon,' says Chetri. "What's even worse is that our farms are destroyed because the streams have dried up. We used to sell fruits and vegetables in the market. Now, there's none for us to eat. The four District Collectors and the MLA have come and gone but no one has listened to us.' Ever since the dam was constructed, Bhim Prasad Nepal had to give up farming and work as a labourer at a quarry. "This dam has destroyed Sikkim. Water used to spring out of the earth here. Now, it's all gone