Gangtok: A piece of fake news that has been circulating claimed that the Teesta Stage 5 dam in Dikchu, run by NHPC, had been wiped out by a fresh new flash flood. However, this claim has been debunked by videos of the structure still standing. Unfortunately, an employee working on the dam lost his life.
The body of Dawa Lepcha, an employee at the dam, was found in the control room atop the dam almost 40 hours after the flash flood.
Dawa, in his late 30s from Samdong Village, had worked with NHPC’s Teesta Stage 5 dam at Dikchu since 2008. He was employed in a technical role. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Teesta Stage 5 comprises an 88.6m high concrete gravity dam, with three penstocks each measuring 321 m in length, and a 17.2 km long headrace tunnel (HRT) situated on the left bank. The underground power house near Sirwani has an installed capacity of 510 MW, generated by three 170 MW turbines.
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The 88.6 m high dam had a control room at the top of it, which was damaged. Uprooted trees, debris, and other remnants of the damage were observed at the highest point of the structure.
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