SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Nov 27: Chief Minister Hemant Soren today reiterated that as long as he was there, under no circumstances will the Lugu Pahar Hydel Pumped Storage Project proposed by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), in Gomia block of Bokaro district,
be allowed to be established on Lugu Pahad, the religious heritage of Santalis.
Speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the International Sarna Dharma Mahasammelan organized on the occasion of Kartik Purnima at Lugu hills, Soren assured that the work will be done to preserve the religious heritage of faith and belief of the tribal community.
The chief minister said that the ancestors have run Luguburu since ancient times. “Just as society is becoming aware with time, in the same way, tribal Sarna religion should also move forward,” he added.
Luguburu’s history must be preserved
The chief minister said that tribal communities are worshipers of nature. “They have been keeping the mountains green. We tribal Santals are certainly poor, but to date, we do not look at anyone’s religion or anything wrong with them. We want to live always in peace and harmony,” he pointed out.
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Soren said that the history of Luguburu has to be preserved. “If this does not happen, how will the coming generations know about this? Work should be done on this. We have to be conscious of our religion and perform our duty. Education is necessary for every society. Earlier the battle was fought with a bow and arrow, now the battle is fought with intelligence. Therefore, education is important,” Soren said.
Notably, the Tribal Advisory Council, a constitutional body constituted in the Fifth Scheduled Area, has already recommended shelving the project. The chief minister happens to be the chairman of TAC.
The Lugu Pahad project
The project envisages the construction of two reservoirs at different levels and a water conductor system to connect them through an underground powerhouse. The proposed project envisages the construction of a dam across Kairo jharna nala (upper dam) on Lugu Pahar and a dam across Bokaro River (lower dam) at the foothill of Lugu Pahar.
Water will be diverted from the upper reservoir through the HRT–HRT-pressure shaft to an underground powerhouse between the upper and lower reservoir to generate 1500 MW of power.
Why is Lugu Pahad important for Santhalis?
Lugu Buru is the origin place of Santhali’s culture and tradition, customs were formed under the chairmanship of Lugu Baba.
It is about 16 km far from Gomia block and is the pride of the Santhal community since the period of civilization called Sosnok Jug in Hor-dishom. Luguburu Ghantabari Dharamgarh was re-established in the year 2000.
Then every year religious gathering is held at Darbar Chatani under the foot hill of Luguburu in the lap of the famous Lugu hill series (The second highest hill series of Jharkhand) and surrounded by Jharkhand’s famous river Damodar and small hilly rivers Katail and Sadabahar, situated in the north side of Tenughat Dam.
On Kartik Purnima a famous Mela of Santhalis is organized there and Santhal tribals from all over India use to go there to offer prayer to their God Lugu Baba.
