Click to play videoGangtok: A group of protesters in Sikkim are on an indefinite hunger strike against a proposal to construct 22 hydroelectric power projects on the River Teesta.
Twenty-year-old Tenzing Lepcha is the youngest among the protestors who have been on strike for over 40 days.
"Due to these projects there will be a lot of ecological imbalances and a lot of destruction not only in Dzongu but also in Sikkim,” says Tenzing.
The protestors are very clear that they won't let the projects determine the course of the River Teesta, which is the lifeline of Sikkim and change the landscape of the state.
The effects of the hydroelectric power projects are becoming very clear. As the Teesta V hydel power project of the NHPC is nearing completion, cracks have already started showing in houses near the dam.
Locals say a school in the area will soon be washed away by the roaring river, which is being diverted under the hills for hydel power. There is also the effect of influx of labour, which is slowly showing in towns like Dikshu.
"There will be a lot of changes that come with influx and hydel power projects are labour intensive,” says a journalist, Pema Wangchuk.
Further north in Dzongu, a silent and almost hidden protected area for the Lepcha tribe also has signs of protest. And though the government has procured no-objection certificates for the hydel power projects, in Gangtok the young men and women with a never say die attitude seem to be prepared to fight to the finish for their hills.
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