For locals, most Himalayan peaks from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh through Bhutan are divine, their might flowing in the form of rivers to sustain humans and wash away their ills. One such river is Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh, where Vishnu incarnate Parashuram is believed to have cleansed his sins.

But the lords of the Himalayan heaven appear to be losing out to India’s industrial hunger and the need for electricity to satiate it. “Our grandfathers used to say the end of the world would come when humans reach the base of Khangchendzonga. They probably meant the rape of nature in the name of development,” Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) general secretary Dawa Lepcha told HT from Gangtok.

ACT is an organisation of the indigenous Lepcha community seeking the right to live in their homeland with dignity and security under threat from numerous mega hydroelectric projects in Sikkim. Most of these project to generate 5144 MW electricity are on river Teesta and in Dzongu, the ‘Sacred’ northern Sikkim area.

The ACT is also worried that the government is yet to do a serius study on the shrinking of glaciers and Himalayan lakes unlike in Nepal. The Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development had in its report to the United National said Nepal’s glaciers have shrunk by 21 per cent and Bhutan’s by 22 per cent over 30 years.

Another report in Nepal under-scored an ‘Unusual’ problem attributed to climate change-creation of new Himalayan lakes and expansion of the not-so-new. The Imja, for instance, did not exist when Sir Edmund Hillary scaled Mt Everest. Today, it is the fastest growing of some 1,600 glacier lakes in Nepal besides having spawned three small ponds.

Several hundred miles to the east, the Mishmi tribal people are equally protective of Parasuramkund. They fear the sacred site would be destroyed by the proposed Demwe Lower hydrolectric project. This is just one of some 168 dams approved to generate 22000 MW in the state.

“In almost all cases, sentiments of local people and their attachment to nature besides ecological factors were overlooked,” Vijay Taram, spokesperson of Forum for Siang Dialogue (FSD) said from Pasighat. “Such is the eagerness that a Union ministry PSU casually used in its report Google map showing Arunachal in China to get a 2700MW hydro project on river Siang cleared.”

Siang, known as Yarlung Tsangpo in China, is one of three rivers that form the Brahmaputra in Assam downstream.The river had, reportedly, dried up earlier this year “because of dams built by China upstream”. According to organisations against displacement by big dams, It was propaganda by the pro-dam lobby to justify hydroelectric projects. “They seem to say that if we don’t do it (built dams), China will, so we might as well,” Taram said.

Assam has also been protesting the dams, particularly the 2000MW Lower Subansiri project, almost 80 per cent of which has been completed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. “Western Assam has already experienced the impact of flash floods and drought because of dams in Bhutan. We cannot let more dams destroy our lives,” said activist Akhil Gogoi.

“Manas Tiger Reserve is feeling the impact of the 60 MW Kurichu dam in Bhutan,” said Partha J. Das of Aaranyak.

While the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions have been discussing the pros and cons of shrinking glaciers and mega dams, Nagaland appears to have found an answer to tapping power without impacting nature adversely. The Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (Neped) has designed the portable hydroger – combination of hydro and generator – that can be installed in mountain streams to generate 3-25 kilowatt power.

“At least 125 villages in Nagaland are relying on hydrogers to meet their power needs. Certain villages in Assam, Mizoram and even Maharashtra have replicated our innovation,” said Neped’s Takum Chang. “We are working on hydrogers that can deliver more power using the natural flow of a stream.”