More Protests Break Out Against Proposed Siang Dam in Arunachal Pradesh
Local communities have been agitating against the hydropower project and dam – being implemented by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) – for several years now, fearing displacement from their ancestral lands which they associate culturally with, and the environmental impacts that the dam could cause in the area.
Videos of the rally showed at least a thousand people gathered at a ground in Geku and later undertaking a protest march through village roads, shouting slogans such as 'We want justice', 'Remove the armed forces', 'No dam, no PFR' and ' Bharat mata ki jai '. The peaceful march occurred in the presence of police and armed forces deployment in the area.
Protests against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Photo: By arrangement
In a letter dated July 14 to P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum (SIFF) – on behalf of the Project Affected Families (PAFs) and residents of all submergence villages – expressed their 'strong opposition' to the project as well as the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) activities that the government was conducting without peoples' consent.
The letter said that claims made by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, on his official Facebook and Twitter accounts, suggesting that the villagers of Riga have given their consent, 'are factually incorrect' and that the village and tribal council had not given their consent, and that no public meeting was at the village by any concerned authority.
'We are deeply concerned about the ongoing human rights violations and the lack of effective grievance redressal mechanisms for the affected communities. Despite our repeated efforts, the concerns of the submergence villages have not been adequately addressed by the state authorities. Instead, a false narrative, propagated by the Hon'ble Chief Minister and other MLAs such as Shri Ojing Tasing, portrays a misleading picture of community support for the project,' the letter claimed.
It urged the principal secretary to 'present the accurate ground reality to the Prime Minister', including the 'widespread opposition' to the project at the meeting being conducted on Tuesday, July 15.
'We sincerely hope that the concerns of the PAFs and submergence villages will be prioritized, and that no decisions will be taken based on misleading representations,' it urged.
Another letter by the Youth Wing of the SIFF to the principal secretary, on July 14, highlighted that people are on an 'indefinite peaceful protest' against the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for the PFR of the project. Condemning the 'unconstitutional practice', the letter added that they, the Adi people of Siang, 'do not want to dam our Aane Siang [the big Siang river] nor be displaced from our motherland'.
The Adi are one of the major tribal communities who live in the area where the Siang dam is proposed.
The letter urged that the project proposal be cancelled and all activities linked to the project, 'We shall continue protesting until our demand is fulfilled,' it stated.
Villagers protesting against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, Uppar Siang, Arunachal Pradesh. Photo: By arrangement
Since May 23 this year, villagers have been on an indefinite protest against the deployment of armed forces in the area to implement the first phase of the project – a study for pre-feasibility report – at the village.
Protesters also burnt down a hanging bridge to prevent the army from entering the village, as The Wire reported earlier.
Apart from concerns like displacement, loss of homes and agricultural lands, as well as the environmental impacts such as the loss of rich biodiversity, the Upper Siang project – set to be India's largest hydropower project, if built – is also proposed in a seismically-active area.
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