Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Every one is quite familiar with this iconic photograph of Triveni taken from Peshoke View Point. The famed triveni is the place where the two great rivers of Sikkim - the Teesta and Rangeet meets and unites to form a new river that finally meets Bay of Bengal in the Sundarban Deltas. Teesta originates from Tso Lhamo Lake also called Cholamu in north Sikkim at an altitude of 17,500 ft (i.e. 5,330m). While Rangeet originates from a glacier of Mount Kabru at the lower Kanchenjunga region.  But the interesting fact is that i bet the photograph above is one of the first taken of this popular side. The picture is taken by Robert Philips and the date of circulation in 1870.

Rangpo is the border town between Sikkim and West Bengal on the Siliguri Gangtok Highway. It is the Gateway to Sikkim. At the border check post, foreign tourists are required to verify their documents on their stay at Sikkim. The town is a meeting place for two rivers - River Teesta and River Rongli chu

Indreni Bridge of Singtam When I first saw the Adomi Bridge of Ghana in one of my stamp albums I said to myself this looks like our Indreni Bridge. Indeed the picture in the stamp said so. The Indreni (rainbow as it resembles) Bridge joins the town of Singtam (East District) with the Aadarsh Gaon (South District) with the river Teesta flowing in between. The bridge that is still waiting for its official opening today is a centre of attraction for its beauty. A couple of video shoots had already been picturised on it and the late-night radium lightning makes the bridge more fascinating.  The bridge that was started on January 10th, 2007 was constructed by MP Agarwal from Namchi with funds from the Government of India, DONER, and NLCP. The total cost of the construction was Rs 1337 lakhs.  The Adomi Bridge stamp was issued in 1967 and it features the first suspension bridge in Ghana.  I am sorry to inform you that as of 04.10.23,  the Indreni Bridge of...

  Mrs Saroja Pradhan and Umesh Pradhan selected to witness the parade from the Prime Minister’s Box Mrs. Saroja Pradhan from Harkamaya College of Education , Tadong, Sikkim and Mr. Umesh Pradhan from Damber Singh College, Tadong, Sikkim was chosen to witness the Republic Day parade from the VVIP box at Rajpath in New Delhi. Mrs Saroja Pradhan, has done her M Ed from Harkamaya College of Education in the year 200-8-2009, was the topper in her batch scoring 75.88%. Umesh Pradhan, a student of Damber Sing College  in the session 2008-09, was also the topper with 71% . Once upon a time there was....a River Teesta   The River Teesta for the people of Singtam obviously has greater outlook attached towards it. Even I recall myself growing along with the Teesta River at Singtam; playing with its waves at river banks. I even have another sentimental attachment with the great river when I ended up the last walk of my mother’s funeral at it...

from sikkimexpress ST Gyaltsen, Gangtok In reference to your article dated March 3, 10 titled “Precarious Gangtok if earthquake hits” regarding the assessment of NMID is timely. The people in the State are living in a fool’s paradise. It is a disaster waiting to happen. The disastrous situation is compounded by the fact that all the 30 or more odd dams already constructed, under construction or on the anvil for tendering or negotiations with construction companies are concentrated in an area of 70 km by 40 km which is a high density of dams per square kilometre. Also, it is true that dams are required for power generation and would contribute to revenue generation in this revenue-starved state. And on the positive side dams are relatively less polluting than thermal and coal power plants. However, dams are environmentally damaging and also leave carbon footprints. On th...

 from indiamike.com   River Teesta from Sevoke Coronation Bridge The River Teesta, said to be the lifeline of the Indian state of Sikkim, flows for almost the entire length of the state, carving out verdant Himalayan temperate and tropical river valleys. The emerald coloured river then forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal before joining the Brahmaputra as a tributary in Bangladesh. The river originates from Cho Lhamu Lake at an elevation of 5,330 m (17,500 feet) above sea level in the mighty Himalayas. This lake lies to the north of the Donkia Pass near Shetschen, where the summit of the pass is about eight kilometres north-east of Darjeeling as the crow flies. The Teesta River is then fed by rivulets which arise in the Thangu, Yumthang and Donkia-La ranges. The river then flows past the town of Rangpo where it forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal up to Teesta Bazaar. At Teesta Suspension Bridge, which joins Kalimpong with Darjeeling, th...

After looking at the photographs of our Teesta river at Golitar, Singtam, I am in my mind now what are we least prepared for? The pride of Sikkim, the legendary and the so-called great River Teesta now gives the impression down in the pages of our great history as “Once upon a time there used to be a River Teesta.” The River Teesta for the people of Singtam obviously has a greater outlook attached towards it. Even I recall myself growing along with the Teesta River at Singtam; playing with its waves at river banks. I even have another sentimental attachment with the great river when I ended up the last walk of my mother’s funeral at its riverbank as most of the others do. From the summer of cool breeze to the festive occasions celebrated across the river bank at Singtam, now it seems more of a distant part of that glorious past. But now…where is the river? I was going through the lines at Wikipedia on the topic of Teesta River and it read:” India has proposed a series of dams with...

I have grown up at Singtam watching the river Teesta....but sometimes when i see the dried river i feel sorry for myself. It is very sorry to say that she paid price for our GREED!!!

Dikchu bazaar on high alert NIRMAL MANGAR GANGTOK, June 01: The people of Dikchu Bazaar are panic stricken after the protection wall of the Teesta Stage V reservoir was washed away following heavy rains on Friday. According to the local residents, the 120 feet high wall was washed away by the river when the water level of the rose extremely high. The portion of the collapsed wall lies below Dikchu bazaar near the old Dikchu School building and the Mandir. With the collapsing of the wall constructed by NHPC to control the level of the water, it has created a fear among the people residing in the nearby areas. The people had speculated that the regular landslides on both the sides of river Teesta has led to the ...

By Source: The Statesman on November 28,2007 Neeraj Vagholikar The late Nari Rustomji who served as Assam’s chief secretary and Dewan of Sikkim had, through his writings, warned that development inputs into Sikkim needed to be within the absorptive capacity of the region. In 1998, the Expert Appraisal Committee on river valley and hydroelectric projects, appointed by the ministry of environment and forests, noted Rustomji’s observations while examining a proposal for environmental clearance for the 510-MW Teesta V hydroelectric project in Sikkim. Since this was one of the multiple large hydroelectric works in the ecologically and culturally sensitive Teesta river basin, it recommended a detailed study on the “carrying capacity” of the river basin before taking a decision. But the MoEF cleared the project in May 1999 without giving environmental clearance and conducting the carrying capacity study. However, one of the conditions for clearance was that “no ...