Latest news with #SiangUpperMulti-purposeProject
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Stop selling China mega dam bogey to push Siang project: Arunachal Pradesh activists to Centre
Activists and farmers in Arunachal Pradesh have asked the Centre not to sell the bogey of the world's largest dam pursued by China on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet to push a proposed 11,500 megawatt hydroelectric project on the Siang River. The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upstream of the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, which meets two more rivers in Assam downstream to flow as the Brahmaputra. The Medog Hydropower Station planned by China in Tibet is expected to generate 60,000 MW of electricity, three times more than what the country's Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River does. India and Bangladesh have expressed concerns about the potential downstream impact of the Tibet project, although Beijing claims it is a clean energy initiative. 'Instead of creating fear over the Medog project, the government of India should consult with its Chinese counterpart to get an accurate status of the project before pushing the SUMP through,' Ebo Mili, a lawyer and anti-dam activist from Arunachal Pradesh's Dibang Valley, told journalists in New Delhi on Saturday (August 2, 2025). Members of the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum (SIFF) and their legal advisors organised the press conference along with anti-dam activists from Uttarakhand. SUMP expands to the (11,500 MW) Siang Upper Multi-purpose Project, which the activists said would submerge 27 villages across and displace 1,50,000 members of the Adi tribe, apart from destroying swathes of forest, farmland, and cultural heritage sites such as Kekar Moying, a landmark where the pre-independence Anglo-Abor War took place. Underscoring the absence of a water treaty with China, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu described the Medog project as a ticking 'time bomb' that could be misused to destroy the State's Siang belt. He defended the SUMP as a much-needed 'defensive measure' against the sudden release of water by China from the Medog project. China does not have a water treaty with any of the 13 countries it borders. Lamok Padun, the SIFF's president, said most villagers in the Siang belt are opposed to the SUMP, but the Arunachal Pradesh Government was hell-bent on pushing the project. He said one of the strategies being employed is to pressure the village chiefs into inking a deal with the government for a pre-feasibility report (PFR). China's mega dam will be 'water bomb': Arunachal MP 'Village heads are being suspended for opposing the SUMP, protestors and members of the SIFF are being detained and arrested arbitrarily, leaders of the SIFF and Adi Students' Union are being criminalised through false charges, and pro-PFR signatures of villagers in the submergence zone are being forged,' he said. Bhanu Tatak, the SIFF's legal advisor, said the Union and State Governments have been militarising the entire Siang region to prevent people from organising protests. 'The government is resorting to violent means to gag us,' she said. The National Hydropower Corporation has been assigned to conduct the PFR for the SUMP, estimated to cost ₹1.13 lakh crore under heavy security cover. In December 2024, more than 350 environmentalists, journalists, scientists and civil society organisations submitted a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to direct the government to withdraw security forces from the area. The Adi people inhabiting the Siang belt rever the Siang River as 'Ane', which means 'mother', and consider damming it a sacrilege.
The Hindu
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Anti-dam protests spread in Arunachal Pradesh; villagers point to potential submergence of sacred Mishmi tribal cultural
An intense opposition to a proposed mega-dam in the Siang River belt has set off a chain of protests against other hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh. A society representing several villages wrote to the Dibang Valley district authorities on May 29, voicing its 'strong and reasoned objection' to the 400 megawatt Mihundo (Mihumdon) Hydroelectric Project proposed on the Dri River. Scheduled to be commissioned in 2026, this run-of-the-river project was assigned to the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. The Ekhomey Mowo Welfare Society, based in Anini, the district headquarters, said the project was illegal as the mandatory free, prior, and informed consent was not obtained from the Gram Sabha or the residents of Angrim Valley who would be affected. The society's general secretary, Morey Molo, and treasurer Aisi Mow underlined the district's seismic and ecological vulnerability, asserting that the locals 'do not want dam-based development on our ancestral lands'. Opposition to the Dri River project The opposition to the Dri River project was a day after the residents of the remote Nukung and Mla villages aired their resistance to the proposed 1200 MW Kalai-II Hydroelectric Project on the Lohit River in the Anjaw district during a public consultation and social impact assessment review. According to the social impact assessment report prepared by the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Nukung and Mla villages would be severely affected by the project. In a letter to the Anjaw Deputy Commissioner, the Nukung Welfare Society said the project was unacceptable to the indigenous communities in the area. 'The total obliteration of our ancestral land by a project we did not consent to is unacceptable and illegal,' Roshan Tawsik, the society's chairman, said. The villagers pointed out that the potential submergence of sacred Mishmi tribal cultural and spiritual sites by the mega-dam was of particular concern. These sites include Kutung Graam, the abode of the community's supreme deity and Parshuram Kund in the downstream. Meanwhile, the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum vowed to intensify its agitation against the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multi-purpose Project and the 'militarisation' of the targeted sites along the Siang River. The government has been pushing this project to be executed by the NHPC, arguing that it would help minimise the adverse impact of a 60,000 MW hydroelectric project China has been planning on the Yarlung Tsangpo River upstream.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Pangkang villagers sign MoU for Siang upper project amid local dissent
GUWAHATI Amid resistance from nearby areas, residents of Pangkang village in Arunachal Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding with the State government on Friday (May 23, 2025), paving the way for a pre-feasibility study on the proposed Siang Upper Multi-purpose Project (SUMP) in Boleng, Siang district. A statement issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations described the agreement as a 'new beginning in community and government cooperation' aimed at exploring 'possible avenues for long-term local and regional prosperity along with national security.' The Deputy Commissioner of Siang, P.N. Thungon, signed the agreement on behalf of the State Government, with Taba Tamut and Bakin Tali representing the villagers. The event was attended by the Minister for Panchayati Raj, Transport, and Cooperation, Ojing Tasing, and the Bharatiya Janata Party's State general secretary, Nalong Mize. Mr. Thungon said the 11,000 MW project, if deemed viable and implemented, 'promises transformative benefits for the local community besides strategic defence and environmental resilience.' According to the terms of the MoU, a development package of ₹5 crore is to be disbursed over three years for the enhancement of infrastructure, healthcare, and livelihood programmes for project-affected families. It also mandates stakeholder consultations as the project progresses. Officials underscored the strategic significance of the SUMP, noting its role in counterbalancing China's extensive hydropower infrastructure on the Yarlung Tsangpo - the upstream segment of the Siang River in Tibet - while simultaneously offering economic empowerment and access to clean, sustainable energy to the local population. 'The villagers of Pangkang [also called Kumku] have shown incredible wisdom and maturity by deciding to cooperate with the government in the conduct of a pre-feasibility report for SUMP,' Mr. Thungon said. 'This is not only about power or water; it is about harnessing the potential of River Siang for the collective prosperity of the local area, the State, and the nation.'
