Monday Musing
[ Amar Sangno ]
Of late, two starkly contrasting pictures have been emerging from Arunachal Pradesh regarding hydropower projects. On one hand, there’s a ‘picture of resistance and noise’ reverberating from the Siang basin, where anti-dam villagers of the affected villages are holding their ground firmly and resolutely against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The noise of resistance has echoed across the region, reaching a boiling point between anti-dam and pro-dam groups.
On the other hand, there’s a picture of stoic silence, yet rapid growth of construction and development taking place, turning the vicinities of the proposed hydropower project into a concrete jungle and ghost villages, to claim land compensation from the power developers.
These two pictures appear contradictory, yet have their own tales to tell.
From the point of view of those opposing it, the hydropower project would annihilate natural resources by creating significant environmental impacts and ecological imbalances in the Siang basin, displacing a substantial number of people and animals. Moreover, there is the fear of losing their ancestral fertile lands, which they have been cultivating for centuries, which would be submerged underwater. This has reinforced their determination. As a result, they are adamant in their no-dam stand.
Consequently, the government quietly deployed a substantial number of armed forces to maintain law and order and quell the resistance around the agitating villages, inducing uncertainty in the valley.
The silence has a reason.
For instance, the proposed 700 mw Tato-II Hydroelectric Project in Shi-Yomi district has turned out to be a boon for the community landowners, as the government has disbursed over Rs 219 crore to them. Many landowners received hefty land compensation amounts against their non-cultivable lands in Shi-Yomi district. To them, transforming their individual economy, as well as that of the district and the state, matters. So, why would they protest against the dam?
Similarly, the Kamla Hydro Electric Project (1,720 mw) in Kamle and Kra Daadi districts, and the Dibang Multipurpose Project (2,880 mw) in Lower Dibang Valley district, have spawned business opportunities for the project-affected people. The people in the districts of these proposed hydropower projects welcome the dams with open arms, without any resistance.
There’s a rat race of construction and development around the Kamla Hydroelectric Project and Dibang Multipurpose Project, with people vying to claim compensation money from the projects.
However, this newly spawned easy-money business has become a reason for the growing number of land dispute-related cases and clan clashes over land ownership rights. Centuries-old non-cultivable rocky lands, which show no evidence of human activity, have become a battleground for ownership rights. Blood brothers are at each other’s throats.
Recently, at least 15 people sustained injuries, and two persons are reportedly in a serious condition after the Mili clan and the Yukar clan clashed over a land dispute in Poku village in Kumporijo circle of Kamle district. It is learnt there are five criminal cases registered in connection with the violent clash. The decade-old land dispute has reportedly been escalated to the bloodbath mode by the Kamla HEP.
The Kamle district administration has miserably failed to control the brewing land dispute leading to violent clash on 26 August, 2025.
If the government allows a rat race of constructions and offers land compensation amounts, over-enthusiastically rewarding pro-dam individuals, land dispute-related bloodshed among cousin brothers and clan members would paint a grimmer picture that emerges in the course of hydropower development.
