Darjeeling MP Raju Bista today strongly opposed AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s statement linking the disaster along the Teesta River to the Teesta hydropower projects.

In a letter to Mr Ramesh, Mr Bista criticised several aspects of his statement.

“I was taken aback by two things: first, your shocking indifference towards the Darjeeling hills, Terai, Dooars, and Sikkim region; and second, your ‘audacity’ in attempting to shift the blame for the Teesta disaster onto the present government at the Centre,” Mr Bista wrote.

“You mentioned that ‘nine dams have been commissioned, work on 15 dams is ongoing, and another 28 are in the pipeline.’ Jairam ji, perhaps you have forgotten, but the people of our region haven’t, that all of these dams were planned and constructed during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government in the Centre and earlier by the CPM and later TMC Government in West Bengal,” the Darjeeling MP pointed out.

“Given your various roles in the Congress-led government since 1991, including being part of the eminent persons group (EPG) of the ministry of power, a Member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), and the MOS (IC) for environment and forest, it is highly likely that these dams were conceived and received environmental and other clearances during your tenure,” Mr. Bista, who is also BJP’s national spokesperson, added.

“Instead of pretending not to be responsible for the destruction of our region, a more appropriate response would have been to start your statement with, ‘The Congress party apologizes to the people of Kalimpong, Sikkim, Darjeeling, and surrounding areas for causing you indescribable suffering due to a lack of vision in approving those dams that have caused massive devastation in the region’,” the BJP MP claimed.

Addressing Mr Ramesh’s claim about local protests against the Teesta project, Mr. Bista stated: “You mentioned that ‘these projects have also been undertaken without local communities in mind. The people of Sikkim and Kalimpong have not gained from the hydro projects in terms of employment, share in power, or revenue generation.’ Sir, let me respectfully remind you that it was under the Congress government that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Social Impact Assessments (SIA) were approved for these projects. It was your government that denied the benefits of these projects to the people living in Kalimpong and Darjeeling.”

“In fact, you brushed aside the concerns raised by the expert appraisal committee (EAC) appointed by your government, which had raised concerns about the Teesta III project. From what I know, the issue concerning Teesta III was discussed in the EAC meeting held on 21 April, 2009, where the minutes of the meeting record that ‘changes adopted by Teesta Urja contravene environmental clearance accorded on 3 August, 2007, as per the recommendations made by the EAC, and the project was issued environmental clearance with a condition that in case of a change in the scope of the project, it would require a fresh appraisal.’ So, the EIA clearance was given by the UPA Government in 2007, concerns were raised by the EAC under the UPA Government in 2009, yet nothing was done by the UPA Government to rectify the situation,” Mr Bista said.

“Let me jog your memory, Sir, you were the MOS (IC) for environment and forests from May 2009 to July 2011, and a Cabinet minister from July 2011 to May 2014. As the Minister directly responsible for the EIA, these concerns must have been brought to your attention. Yet, you did nothing. You didn’t require a review of the EIA approval for the Teesta III dam. But today, you have the audacity to act as if you are not responsible,” Mr Bista concluded.