A series of agitations, including marches, hunger strikes and attempts to close down hydel projects, has been lined up as part of the “Save Teesta Movement” by people from various works of life, alleging that the central and Bengal governments showed indifference towards the disaster caused by the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Kalimpong district in October last year.

Members of the Gorkha Gaurav Sansthan — an organisation that was formed in 2022 and successfully set up Gorkha Haats (markets by and for local people) from Kalimpong to Siliguri, decided to take the lead in the movement.

The organisation met in Kalimpong on Wednesday and decided to launch “Teesta Bachao Andolan (Save Teesta Movement) “to give justice to the residents of the Teesta river belt and to save the river and the environment”.

“We have decided to form a separate committee to spearhead the Save Teesta Movement and are trying to bring in experts to take the agitation further,” said Narendra Tamang, the coordinator of the Gorkha Gaurav Sansthan.

The group has alleged that both the Centre and the state have shown indifference towards the Teesta calamity on the Bengal side since the region was hit by the October 4, 2023, glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in north Sikkim.

Large stretches in Bengal were also affected by the flood.

The GLOF raised the Teesta’s river bed which is frequently causing the river to overflow both in the hills and the plains.

“The affected families have not yet been provided with proper relief and rehabilitation and long-term alternative arrangements. There has been no concrete planning to save areas along the Teesta,” said Tamang.

The agitation map charted out to save the Teesta are as follows:

“We are looking to start our programme on July 10,” said Tamang.

Another organisation, Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI), also raised similar issues on Thursday.

“The size and the scale of the disaster need appropriate attention and action both by the national and state governments concerned in a collaborative manner that goes beyond political and administrative boundaries,” DHI secretary Roshan Rai said.

DHI is the state chapter of Integrated Mountain Initiative, a platform of more than 10 organisations advocating mountain-sensitive policies and practices across the country.

The DHI, which submitted memorandums to various elected representatives from the region, has raised the following demands:

Earlier, the Kalimpong district administration had said according to government norms, it had distributed ₹75,000 each for 483 fully damaged houses and ₹5,000 for 76 partially damaged homes as compensation in Pedong, Lava and Kalimpong 1 blocks following bouts of heavy rain in October 2023.

However, the affected residents said ₹75,000 was insufficient to build a decent house.

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has also sought a compensation of Rs 12.5 crore from the NHPC following a surveyor report. The public sector hydropower company has two dams on the Teesta within the GTA area.