Northeast: Arunachal Pradesh-based organizations, including a farmers’ collective, have requested that the State Government cancel a deal for the construction of a proposed 10,000 MW hydropower project on the Siang River.
Siang, which flows down from Tibet, is one of three rivers that join to form the Brahmaputra in Assam downstream.
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Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) and the Indigenous Rights Advocacy Dibang (IRAD) have threatened to launch a protest if the project is not scrapped, accusing the State Government of signing a deal with the National Hydropower Power Corporation without consulting the local people.
The Siang Indigenous Farmer’s Forum (SIFF) and Indigenous Rights Advocacy Dibang (IRAD) on Saturday appealed to the state government for the immediate cancellation of the 10,000 mw Siang hydro project, accusing the state government of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) without consulting the affected people.
The NITI Aayog has proposed a 10,000 mw project with a 300-meter dam.
Arunachal Pradesh Opposes 10,000 MW hydropower plan on Siang River
The forum has been protesting the proposed mega dam over the mighty Siang River and has submitted a memorandum to the chairman of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights Forum, Dr Puchamon Yeophantong, during the 4th United Nations South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights, which was held in Kathmandu on March 22.
Tasik Pangkam, president of SIFF, stated that the Adi community in the Siang River belt will never accept the megaproject that would endanger their existence and render them landless. He cited the Chakma and Hajong people, who were displaced in the 1960s by the Kaptai Hydroelectric Project in present-day Bangladesh and forced to seek refuge in India.
Ebo Milli, an IFAD member and a lawyer, criticised the State Government and NHPC for failing to disclose the cumulative impact assessment of another proposed dam, the 2,880 MW Dibang Multipurpose Hydroelectric project.
He cautioned the public against the government’s strategy of declaring a forest area a wildlife reserve or a protected area in order to seize control of the land and push environmentally hazardous projects.
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