At least 85 people have been killed in Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar and other areas. The quake caused widespread devastation and massive loss of property, roads and houses spread over the hills and adjacent areas. Even as army, para military units and relief agencies struggle to re establish and reopen damaged roads, the centre has sanctioned a sum of Rs 50 crore by way of initial relief to Sikkim.

Seven days after the calamity, news still comes in from remote areas of house collapses and people trapped in the debris, in the remote hills of North Sikkim. While it is too early for a comprehensive report on the cause, nature and after effects of the disaster, NGOs and environmentalists have blamed the state authorities for allowing rampant heavy, multi-storied structures in Gangtok and other parts of Sikkim in recent years. They also have raised fresh questions about the impact of environmental safety of the several hydro-electric projects in the upper hill reaches of the river Teesta. Some of them involve not only the building of new all weather roads, but also extensive tunneling, construction of large reservoirs and the laying of pipelines, etc.

As with proposed projects in Arunachal Pradesh, hydro power projects have been approved earlier for Sikkim, envisaging daily power production of around 8000 megawatts which could be used to supply other eastern states suffering an energy shortfall. The projects in Sikkim have been and are being implemented in a phased manner. Downstream river projects are also proposed for West Bengal.

Initial patterns show that more multi storey buildings have collapsed or suffered more damage, than small houses. as can be expected. This has naturally put residents of new, modern buildings into a major panic. Many of them refuse to sleep indoor, as before. However, with the winter months to set in soon, it is clear that they cannot continue to sleep in the open for very long. But occasional aftershocks continuing after the quake are certainly not helping their morale.

There is naturally an undercurrent of resentment over the policy of allowing heavy construction in such a seismically sensitive zone. If the state government is forced by its critics, whose number seems to be growing at present, to go slow with its pro-construction approach, it may well impact the state’s economy in a major way. The focus of much of the new construction, in place or proposed, is on tourism and the creation of accommodation facilities for seasonal visitors.

There seems to be no way in which the government can reverse the hydro power projects. State government sources told the IPA that all projects had been cleared by the central Environments and Forests departments, which took due account of the various objections expressed by NGOs, local citizens and weather experts. Official clearances were obtained after several expert surveys. In any case so far there is no suggestion that the quake occurred primarily because of the power projects. Earthquakes in Sikkim are common.

However, Kolkata-based river flow expert Subrata Sinha has been on record suggesting that changing the courses of rivers to redirect their flow could have a major negative impact in sensitive terrains.

What has added to the general concern is that never before had any tremor been measured as high as 6.9 on the Richter scale. There is no scientific explanation so far and worries abound as to whether this should be treated as an omen for the future. (IPA Service)