Rahul Somvanshi
A community organization in Sikkim has sent a formal petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting an immediate pause on new hydropower construction in the state and an independent review of existing projects.
The trigger was a devastating flash flood in Nepal on August 26, 2026. Nepal’s emergency-health authorities said the flood followed an ice-and-rock avalanche and temporary damming of the Lhende Khola in the Rasuwa district, sending debris-laden water surging downstream. According to SIBLAC’s petition, the flood affected 13 run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river corridors.
The organization behind the petition is the Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee — SIBLAC. Its convenor, Tseten Tashi Bhutia, submitted the memorandum to the Prime Minister’s office.
SIBLAC’s requests are specific: a halt to proposed new hydropower projects, an independent examination of all existing operational projects, environmental, geological, and seismic assessments, and consideration of social and national-security dimensions.
SIBLAC’s convenor Tseten Tashi Bhutia has stated that the committee does not oppose national energy goals. The position is that comprehensive safety documentation should come before new construction in a high-altitude glacial river valley.
The petition cites the 2023 event as part of its argument about the region’s vulnerability to sudden flooding. In October 2023, a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood from South Lhonak Lake severely damaged the Teesta III hydropower dam at Chungthang, causing extensive downstream destruction.
The Nepal disaster did not prove that Sikkim’s projects are structurally unsafe. What it did was prompt a community group to formally demand that those questions be assessed by an independent body before new projects are approved.
No official government response was identified in the sources reviewed as of publication. Communities across India’s flood-prone river systems have raised similar questions about infrastructure vulnerability in high-risk zones.
