10/11/2023
Press Release
"SHRI MK S***A SUBMITS MEMORANDUM TO MHA ON BEHALF OF SHRI PAWAN CHAMLING DEMANDING A CBI INQUIRY INTO THE RECENT SOUTH LHONAK LAKE GLOF"
Today, Shri MK S***a, Chief Spokesperson, Sikkim Democratic Front, submitted a memorandum on behalf of Shri Pawan Chamling and the Sikkim Democratic Front to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, requesting for the intervention of GOI and a CBI investigation on the South Lhonak lake GLOF which occurred on the 3rd and 4th October, 2023. The GLOF cost Sikkim hundreds of lives along with the destruction of the movable properties of the public, crucial state and national public properties and infrastructure including National Highway 10 and Teesta Stage 3 dam.
The memorandum highlights the changing and contradictory statements of the Chief Minister of Sikkim Shri PS Golay regarding the time at which he received information about the incoming GLOF. The Chief Minister’s statements in the official press conferences on 06.10.2023 and 16.10.2023, shows the complete mismanagement by the government and failure in delivering timely information to the public. Timely information could saved each and every life as well as the movable properties of the public. The public of Singtam and Rangpo were unaware of the incoming flood as late at 2-3am on the 4th October 2023 even though the Chief Minister declared that he had received information at 10:40pm on the 3rd of October 2023. Instead, the Chief Minister has made every attempt to politicise the issue by calling the dam “substandard” without any factual evidence or technical reports. The glaring absence of a preliminary report on the disaster by the Government of Sikkim till date is also mentioned in the memorandum.
Furthermore, the noncompliance of the Government of Sikkim with the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) Guidelines Management of GLOFs is strongly protested. The failure of the Government of Sikkim to frame a state plan for preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response to GLOFs despite clear guidelines of the NDMA under which hazard and risk zonation, mapping and monitoring, mitigation measures and risk reduction of GLOFs are vested upon the State Government is stated. Such glaring omissions by the government makes the Chief Minister and concerned officers liable for prosecution under the NDMA Act 2005.
The Government of Sikkim also failed to implement the Dam Safety Act 2021 according to which the government was to institute a State Committee on Dam Safety and a State Dam Safety Organisation. The SDSO would also oversee the Dam Safety Unit to be created by Sikkim Urja Ltd responsible for carrying out yearly inspections of the dam, installing instrumentations for monitoring dam performance, establish hydro-meteorological station, conduct dam safety evaluations and so on. The state government’s compliance with the Dam Safety Act 2021 could have prevented a dam failure and reduced the intensity of the disaster.
Further, Government of Sikkim continues to appoint Sunil Saraogi as Executive Chairman and Director of the Sikkim Urja Limited, despite the observations made by the Hon'ble High Court of Sikkim in the order dated 18.05.2023 wherein it was observed that he is suspect on grounds of both legality and propriety. The Teesta Stage III operating at 120% capacity at the time of the disaster raises grave questions about the administration of the dam and noncompliance with disaster norms.
The Government of Sikkim also failed to install an Early Warning System. Despite an NDMA notice that the Automated Weather System at South Lhonak Lake stopped transmitting data on 19.09.2023, the Government of Sikkim ignored the malfunctioning of the AWS which shows gross negligence.
Due to the above mentioned facts, the memorandum on behalf of Shri Pawan Chamling and the Sikkim Democratic Front requests the Government of India to intervene into the cause of the calamity and conduct a CBI investigation. The failure of the Government of Sikkim to prevent and mitigate the disaster, the contradictory official statements of the Chief Minister, the attempts of the Chief Minister to score political points rather than provide the much needed and urgent relief and rescue operations to the public, the failure of the dam authorities to open the dam spillways on time and the failure to comply with national guidelines and laws such as the NDMA Guidelines Management of GLOFs and Disaster Management Act 2021 also raises serious questions about the possibility of sabotage and thus, the SDF party requests for urgent intervention by the Government of India.
Judy Rai
General Secretary, Press & Publicity Affairs
SDF.
10.11.2023