Disaster or development? Why locals are up in arms against the Sikkim rail project

Bishnu Rai gets emotional every time he tries to speak about his home. Especially since he’s on the verge of losing it.

Thirty-one-year old Rai lives on a hilltop in Melli town in the landslide-prone Kalimpong district of Northern West Bengal.

The small cluster of three huts on the Eastern Himalayan hilltop has been home to his family for over five decades after they moved here from neighbouring Nepal.

But a railway project that aims to connect Sikkim with the rest of the country is likely to rob Rai of his home and the many memories that fill its every nook and corner.

“We are not against development,” said Rai, adding, “However, this project will wreak havoc on the hills and forest, inviting natural disasters. We depend on the forest for our livelihood and its destruction will affect us. Work on the project has started in some pockets in the area but we have not allowed the railways to start construction on the hilltop until the Forest Rights Act, 2006, regulations are properly followed.” The Forest Rights Act mandates taking permission from gram sabhas before undertaking any project in forest areas, which Rai claims hasn’t been done for this project.

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