UKHRUL: Tensions over the proposed 11,000-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) intensified in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district after villagers clashed with security personnel in Geku on September 28, amid continued opposition to the project and the deployment of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel for the Preliminary Feasibility Report (PFR) survey.
According to reports, protesters took to the streets opposing both the proposed project and the presence of security personnel in the area. The situation turned tense after government vehicles were reportedly damaged, following which security forces intervened. Four people were arrested in connection with the incident, while security was strengthened in the area.
The clash came amid chief minister Pema Khandu’s visit to the Siang region. Khandu travelled to Boleng in Siang district on Tuesday and later proceeded to Yingkiong in Upper Siang, where he held meetings with officials and local stakeholders amid the continuing protests.
The opposition to the SUMP has been building since the resumption of preliminary survey activities. Villagers in Geku and adjoining areas have blocked roads leading to proposed survey sites, seeking an immediate halt to PFR activities and the withdrawal of security personnel deployed for the survey.
The Adi Bané Kébang-United (ABK-U) had earlier submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioners of Siang and Upper Siang districts, conveying resolutions adopted at a consultative meeting in Geku where villagers from Geku, Komkar and other affected areas opposed the project. The organisation has called for the project to be scrapped, citing concerns over its potential impact on land, forests, river systems, livelihoods and the socio-cultural life of the Adi community.
Anti-dam organisations have also raised concerns over the possible downstream impact of the project in Assam and sought support from Mising community organisations in Dhemaji district.
The state government, meanwhile, has maintained that the immediate objective is to complete the PFR and determine whether the project is technically feasible before proceeding further.
Speaking in Boleng on September 29, Khandu said the government was not seeking to rush the project and that if the PFR determines that the project cannot be built, there would be no further process, according to PTI.
The PFR is expected to take three months — November, December and January — and will examine the project’s feasibility, including whether a structure of the proposed scale can be built in Arunachal Pradesh’s Seismic Zone V, the level of protection it could provide against a possible release of water from upstream and the availability of suitable locations for construction, PTI reported.
Khandu said that if the project is found technically feasible, the subsequent stages would include a Social Impact Assessment (SIA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in accordance with applicable laws and procedures.
The chief minister also described the SUMP as a project with wider national and strategic implications, citing developments related to water infrastructure upstream in China. He said the issue extended beyond power generation to questions of water management and national security.
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The project was declared a National Project by the Centre in 2008 but has remained stalled for nearly two decades. It is envisaged as a major hydropower and water-management project with an installed capacity of around 11,000 MW.
At a consultative meeting held on September 21, Khandu and deputy chief minister Chowna Mein had brought together government officials from Siang and Upper Siang to discuss the project’s technical aspects and concerns. Technical experts, including National Dam Safety Authority Chairman R Kashyap, former Geological Survey of India deputy director general JM Gautam and former Central Water Commission member PM Scott, made presentations on the project.
Khandu had at the meeting directed the chief secretary to initiate action against government employees found promoting views against the SUMP, while also acknowledging the need to take local communities into confidence.
The government has maintained that the project would not be forcibly implemented and that dialogue with affected communities would continue. Khandu has said that if the project progresses beyond the feasibility stage, consultations would be held with gram panchayats, villages and affected communities, including on land acquisition, compensation and rehabilitation.
The latest clash in Geku, however, underscores the continuing divide between the state government’s push to establish the project’s feasibility and the resistance from sections of local communities seeking an end to the PFR process.
