[ad_1]
Kolkata, India – India’s ambitious railway project connects a small state in northeastern India with China and the rest of the country, which has aroused concerns among local forest dwellers and environmentalists.
The project aims to extend the railway to Nathu La in the Himalayas of Sikkim on the India-China border to facilitate the movement of troops in emergency situations.
The 45-kilometer (28-mile) project started in 2009 and connects Sevoke in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim. There are three stations between them, one underground.
View of the villages along the Tista River in the Himalayas [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]In addition to the railway map that brought Sikkim to India, the project was touted as an engineering marvel, with 14 tunnels and 17 bridges on a wide-gauge railway line. Most of the railway projects are located in West Bengal, Sikkim is only 3.44 kilometers (2 miles).
The government claims that once the project is completed, it will bring more income to the local community and promote tourism in the Himalayas.
But environmentalists worry that this could threaten thousands of lives in the ecologically fragile Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya (DSH) region, which is prone to landslides, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
“The area is located in seismic zones IV and V and is highly susceptible to earthquakes. Such a large construction activity increases the possibility of catastrophic disasters,” Jatishwar Barati, a geography researcher in West Bengal, told Al Jazeera .
“The rock formations are too young because the area is formed by the Daling Group rocks that do not have a strong bond. The area is still being established, so it is very unstable. Even slight vibrations can disturb their arrangement and cause serious mountain masses. Flash floods from landslides and mudslides during the monsoon period.”
Bharati mentioned one Accident At the project site last month, the rock in one of the tunnels collapsed during blasting, killing two workers and injuring five others.
“Natural disasters such as earthquakes may not only damage the railway network, but also due to the indirect impact of construction activities and heavy vehicle movement, loose rock layers will cause greater damage to the livelihoods and biodiversity of the people in the area.”
Former officials of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) admitted that the area is prone to landslides.
“Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas have historical reports of landslides…but any major project like this must take into account and take all these factors into consideration,” retired GSI Deputy Director Nilaji Kumar Sakar told Al Jazeera.
“Due to complex geology, geomorphology and hydrological factors, building a tunnel in the Himalayas is a challenging task in itself. But technology can ensure safe construction,” he said.
Sarkar said the authorities should “start some hydrological research to eliminate local people’s fear of drying up natural streams during tunnel construction”.
Hydroelectric dam on the river
Activists say that the hydroelectric dam on the Teesta River has made the area vulnerable to natural disasters. Teesta is a cross-border river close to the railway project.
The construction of railway lines has led to large-scale deforestation [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]“The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and related Environmental Management Plan (EMP) of the two hydroelectric dams in Tista acknowledged that the slopes surrounding the project site are geologically fragile, and any tampering with the slopes may lead to serious landslides and increase Dangerous reservoirs are silting up and affecting National Highway 31,” Soumitra Ghosh, an environmental and forest rights activist, told Al Jazeera.
“We have witnessed the collapse of roads in the area where the dam was built, and the river flooding the highway, leaving people homeless.”
On July 8, monsoon rains caused landslides in Kalimpong and Darjeeling areas in West Bengal. The Kalimpong construction site is only 3 kilometers away from the railway project.
In fact, this year the water level of the Tista River exceeded the danger mark, and flooding flooded the roads and made hundreds of families homeless.
The flooded area is less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the proposed railway line.
But according to environmentalists, it is not just dams that accelerate natural disasters. Deforestation and urbanization also have the same effect.
“Dams are just one of the reasons that increase the risk of landslides. But other factors, such as indiscriminate urbanization, deforestation and large-scale road construction, can also cause natural disasters,” South Asia Dams, Rivers and People’s Network (SANDRP) Himanshu Taka told Al Jazeera.
“Unfortunately, in India, no research has been conducted in advance to understand the impact of such buildings in an area that is inherently prone to landslides and other natural disasters. Major interventions such as blasting, tunnel excavation, mountain excavation, construction of roads and towns The measures have had an impact on the landslide potential of the area.”
Suspected of violating the Forest Rights Act
In addition to the risk and fear of natural disasters in the Himalayas, its forest residents also accused the authorities of starting construction of railway projects without their consent under India’s Forest Rights Act.
The law stipulates that for any construction in the forest area, the government must obtain the approval of the local village-level organization.
“No such license and compensation from us [for eviction from the land] It took a few years for the project to get paid,” said Amrit Chhetri, chairman of the Forest Rights Committee (FRC) established by the villagers to protect their rights.
Chhetri said that so far, the railway department has identified 26 families who will be displaced by the project and has paid them 50% of the compensation.
“But we believe the number may be several times higher,” he said.
Railway officials also admitted that issues related to the rights of forest dwellers caused delays and that none of the 14 proposed tunnels were completed.
“We have not completed any tunnels. The project has been delayed because most of the permits were received in 2019… the pandemic has also delayed the project,” Mohinder Singh, the project’s director, told Al Jazeera.
As a result, the project’s budget soared six times and forced the government to set March 2023 as a new deadline.
The project caused serious air pollution in ecologically sensitive areas [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]Villagers also said that the project caused serious pollution in the area.
“We live in a hellish environment because the trucks that transport construction materials will raise dust and cause respiratory problems,” Bikash Rai, 34, told Al Jazeera that he is Melli A resident of, a train station has been planned there.
“The dumping of construction waste also blocked the mouths of local rivers that we depend on for drinking water and other uses. Now, our dirty water is soaked with mud in the river.”
Rai said that the villagers used to find deer and other wild animals on the mountain, but “since the construction began, they have almost disappeared.”
Unlicensed construction?
Swarup Saha, a local activist fighting for the rights of forest communities, plans to file a motion in court accusing him of violating the 1980 Forest Protection Act.
He said: “The railway violated the regulations and built tunnels without obtaining final approval, resulting in changes in the forest conditions,” and demanded “immediate cancellation of the project permit.”
Railway officials admitted that they have not yet received final approval for the project.
“Final approval takes time because it has to go through various stages to get approval. We hope to get it as soon as possible,” Suhanan Changda, chief public relations officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway Company, told Al Jazeera that the railway network is within its jurisdiction.
“We can’t talk too much about legal issues, but all environmental issues will be resolved before such projects are given the green light. Damage to flora and fauna will be minimal, as the railway route will mainly pass through tunnels without affecting the surface ,” he added.
[ad_2]
Source link