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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 30, 2020
Anyone travelling in Sikkim by road cannot but be impressed by the mighty Teesta River.
Teesta(Tista) River is a 315 km long river that rises in the eastern Himalayas. It flows through the states of Sikkim and West Bengal in India and through Bangladesh before entering the Bay of Bengal.
Flowing through the length of Sikkim, the Teesta River is considered to be the lifeline of the state.
The Teesta River originates from the Pahunri (or Teesta Kangse) glacier above 7,068 metres (23,189 ft), and flows southward through gorges and rapids in the Sikkim Himalaya.
It is fed by rivulets and tributaries Rangit, Rangpo.
A number of hydroelectric projects and dams have been built on this river. The Teesta river dam projects have been approved with the requirement that they adopt suitable seismic coefficient in the design for the dam, tunnel, surge shaft
and power house. The projects are cascaded over the length of the river, do not store large amounts water, have small reservoirs, and therefore the projects are expected to have very low risk from the reservoir induced seismic activity in the area.
Melli (also spelled Malli) is a town on the West Bengal-Sikkim border near the River Teesta.
Lepchas are among the indigenous peoples of Sikkim, India and number between 30,000 and 50,000. The Dzongu valley, an officially demarcated reserve for Lepcha community bordering Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, known for its vast
plant wealth is one of the least attended areas on ethnomedicinal aspects, for being sacred and restricted, especially to outsiders.
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