Commemoration: The Teesta Tragedy
Disasters bring untold suffering to the victims especially the poor, the vulnerable and the innocent. Lives lost cannot be returned, but these should not be forgotten. The October 2023 Teesta Disaster has to be remembered, talked about and lessons learnt from and integrated into our everyday lives and development pathways . This International Mountain Day, Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative held a commemorative event that will foreground the lived experiences of people along the Teesta, followed by a presentation of the GLOF, dam breach, the subsequent flood and recommendations coming out of the extensive documentation taken forward by SaveTheHills. There was also be a visual narrative photo exhibition open to bring about the much needed conversations that will inform policy and action.
There are increasing disasters that are being experienced in the Indian Himalayan Region both in terms of magnitude and frequency with grave impacts on lives, livelihoods and assets. The IHR is a multi hazard landscape with a complex interplay of events across timelines and ecosystems that need to be looked at from an interdisciplinary manner and beyond single disaster events.
The October 2023 Teesta Disaster is a lived experience of the Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalaya that highlights the urgent need to mainstream the issue of disaster in the IHR and address it in a holistic manner.
The Glacial Lake Outburst Flood from Lhonak Lake at 5 200 metres above sea level in North Sikkim and the subsequent breach of the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang on 4 October 2023 has left a trail of destruction along the Lachen Chu and River Teesta. Officially reported, there have been 37 people who lost their lives, 78 missing and countless properties and assets washed away or damaged. The floods have damaged critical infrastructure and important biodiversity landscapes and affected lives of people in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. This has left a traumatic mark especially for people living in the proximity of the Lachen Chu and River Teesta. The recovery process is going to be long drawn and expensive. The absence of early warning systems and the building of large infrastructures like mega dams downstream without proper risk hazard evaluation has put a question mark on the development model and our preparedness for climate change related disasters.
The disaster once again is a reminder that the Himalaya needs mountain sensitive policies and practices that acknowledges the socio-ecological importance and fragility of the landscape. The disaster is a reminder of the impacts of development choices that we have taken in the Himalaya as well as how global issues like climate change is impacting and compounding the challenging that mountain people face.