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Tripura tribals want Gumti Hydro Electric Project scrapped

The police recently blocked tribal people's protests in South Tripura district in Tripura over the Gumti Hydro-Electric Project commissioned in 1974. The tribal people want the project scrapped and the land given back to them but the state government is not doing that. "Hydel power is still cheaper, much cheaper than power from plants run by natural gas,' says chief minister Manik Sarkar.

A 30-metre high dam was built across the Gumti river for generating 8.6 MW power and the dam submerged 46.34 sq km of fertile land