Indigenous community in nepal files second supreme court petition to block 63 mw hydropower project

Indigenous leaders from Nepal’s Singsa-Bhote community have escalated their legal battle against a controversial hydropower development, filing a second petition with the country’s Supreme Court while their first 2024 case remains pending. The community is demanding cancellation of the 63-megawatt Chhujung River Hydropower Project, located in the remote Lungbasamba region of northeastern Nepal.

The new petition seeks to void the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) and secure an immediate halt to construction activities until the court reaches a final decision. “The second writ petition was timely, given the increasing impacts from construction work on the community people, their lands and livelihoods,” explains Dhenduk Dhoma Bhote, a community leader from Ridak village and one of the petitioners. The Indigenous communities argue that the project operates under a fundamentally flawed environmental assessment.

The hydropower development threatens to displace approximately 228 households across three villages – Ridak, Thudam, and Chyamtang – from ancestral lands that have sustained their traditional way of life for generations. Each community depends on distinct livelihood practices: Chyamtang residents rely entirely on agriculture, Thudam villagers practice yak herding, while Ridak inhabitants combine herding with trading medicinal herbs. Community members fear losing access to the forests and lands that form the foundation of their economic survival, prompting them to pursue multiple legal avenues to protect their heritage and environment from industrial development.