Protesting against delay in redress of various issues, the aggrieved residents of Selang village forced closure of work at the power house station of the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydro power project in Joshimath. The protesting villagers have also stated that they will begin a relay protest on Monday if the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) fails to take necessary action towards resolving the pending issues. The main
Dissatisfied by the state of affairs, the protesting Selang villagers brought work to a halt at the power house site of the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad power project on Saturday. The project affected villagers state that the NTPC has not yet completed construction of the school building in Selang village as part of its corporate social responsibility. Due to delay in completion of work in the school, the students are being forced to attend the classes being conducted under a tin-shed.
Apart from this problem being faced by school children due to incomplete construction, the issue regarding the collection of fodder by the villagers for their cattle, goats and sheep has not yet been resolved by the company, complain the protesting villagers. Protesting villager Mahadeep said that the villagers had been forced to close down work at the project site due to the purported apathy of the company. The fodder collection by villagers issue has also remained unresolved for some years now. If the company fails to meet the demands of the villagers, they will begin a relay protest demonstration from Monday, added the protesting villager. The work at this project site will not be allowed to resume till the pending issues are resolved by the authorities, stress the villagers.
It would be pertinent to mention here that work was started on the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad power project with an approved investment of Rs 2978.5 crore on the Dhauliganga river in Chamoli district in 2006. Since the project was started, there have been varied issues related to the social work of the company in the project affected villages that have elicited protests by the affected villagers. Earlier, in the last year, the project affected residents of Tapovan village had submitted a memorandum to the sub divisional magistrate regarding the pending construction of government inter college in Tapovan. The site where the government inter college stood earlier had been taken over and a project hut was established at the site. The company had talked of constructing a school at another location for the children studying in this school. However, the construction of the school building has not yet been completed for years now.