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ANURADHA SHARMA LAKHOTIA
Rambhi, Feb. 6: Until a few years ago, this place (35 km from Siliguri) was a modest settlement with a near-deserted bazaar dotted with small shops and roadside tea stalls that closed at sundown.

Today, it teems with people well past 10 at night. Shops have grown in size and number and the owners are ready to give the entire credit to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) whose Teesta Low Dam Project (TLDP)-III here is nearing completion. Around 1,500 workers are on the job 24X7 to meet the deadline of June 2008.

“The project has been good for us in that our sales have gone up,” Dilip Kumar Gupta, a shop-owner, said.

Bharat Rai of Lungpu Busty, employed as a driver by the NHPC, would have been happier if his salary was a little higher. But, as he put it: “Considering the fact that many local people have got jobs the deal is fair enough.”

“People want development,” S. Khatua, chief engineer (TLDP-III), said. He added that the NHPC has a Rs 2.5-crore plan for local area development. “We will adopt Deorali as a model village,” he said. With the NHPC out to appease the local community, a backlash against the controversial projects can be ruled out for the time being, though frequent complaints about the damage to national highway persist. “We are doing all we can to improve the highway. It won’t be possible for the Border Roads Organisation alone to repair the entire 200-metre stretch before the onset of monsoon, which is why we will appoint another agency,” Khatua said.

While the TLDP-III will generate 132 MW power, TLDP IV at Kalijhora (a Rs 1,000-crore project) will churn out 160 MW. The Bengal government will enjoy 12 per cent of the power for free, and the rest will be bought and distributed by West Bengal State Electricity Board. “It will bring about sweeping changes,” state urban development and municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya said.

The cost for the development has to be paid, an environmentalist said, and one may not have to wait long for it. “Maybe 30 years, and we will be carrying out studies on climatic changes or geological imbalances that the projects brought about,” he added.