Environment
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NGT seeks report on 25 Sikkim tunnel deaths
EastMojo··13 Aug
The National Green Tribunal has taken suo motu note of 25 worker deaths after a suspected methane release in NHPC's Teesta-VI head race tunnel at Samardung, Namchi, on July 20. The Principal Bench transferred the case to the Eastern Zonal Bench in Kolkata for hearing on September 3. Namchi's collector and pollution boards must file affidavits.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Families of the 25 dead workers can track the Kolkata NGT hearing on September 3, alongside the Sikkim government's inquiry and announced ex-gratia aid.
- Hydropower and tunnel workers can note the tribunal has asked pollution boards and the Namchi collector to explain the methane release on affidavit.
- Readers following Himalayan projects can treat Teesta-VI as a case where methane, not only landslides, is now on the environmental docket.
What's Happening
- On July 20 suspected methane gas escaped inside NHPC's Teesta-VI head race tunnel at Samardung, Namchi, killing 25 workers after a rockfall trapped them.
- The NGT Principal Bench took suo motu cognisance and transferred the matter to its Eastern Zonal Bench in Kolkata, with the next hearing on September 3.
- Respondents directed to file affidavits include the Namchi District Collector, CPCB, Sikkim Pollution Control Board and the MoEFCC regional office in Kolkata.
Why Methane in Hydropower Tunnels Is Unusual
- NHPC acquired the stalled Teesta-VI project through insolvency in 2019 after Lanco halted work in 2012, and resumed construction in 2021.
- CSIR-CIMFR had recommended handheld methanometers, ventilation management and continuous monitoring after earlier gas findings; it is not established from public papers that all units were working on July 20.
- The Sikkim government has constituted a high-level inquiry and announced assistance for affected families, which runs parallel to the NGT's environmental questions.
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