[ Tongam Rina ]
ITANAGAR, 15 Dec: In a show of strong resistance, the people of Siang Valley have come together for a major peaceful protest against the proposed Siang upper multipurpose project (SUMP), even as the state government attempted to scuttle the protest through force and coercion.
This protest follows the state government’s efforts to deploy hundreds of central and state armed police forces to oversee a pre-feasibility survey for the 12,500 mw hydropower project.
Representatives from villages in Siang, East Siang, and Upper Siang districts, where hundreds of central and state armed police forces were supposed to be stationed, gathered in Parong to protest the proposed deployment. Later, they submitted a petition to the state and central governments, strongly opposing the PFR survey and the construction of the SUMP under the guise of national security. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of the deployment order.
“We demand that any decision regarding the deployment of armed forces in the Siang region be made with the consent of the majority of project-affected families. We will not tolerate any attempts to coerce or force our consent regarding the dam. Therefore, we demand the immediate withdrawal of any paramilitary or military forces from the Siang region, as their presence is illegal and unconstitutional. We will not be intimidated or coerced into accepting a project that threatens our very way of life. We urge the government to respect our rights and the law, and to abandon the proposed project,” the petition stated.
The participants, including students, in the peaceful protest emphasised that they oppose the dams and will not allow the survey to proceed.
As reported earlier, the government has decided to deploy hundreds of both Central Armed Police Force and state armed police to deter people from protesting against the study for the pre-feasibility report of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s (NHPC) mega project.
In a letter to the deputy commissioners of the three Siang districts – Upper Siang, East Siang, and Siang – the home secretary requested the provision of necessary accommodation and logistical facilities for the force deployment, which includes women police personnel, tentatively by 15 December.
In Upper Siang district, one company of CAPF was supposed to be deployed in Geku, Uggeng, and Jengging, with one platoon of women police in Geku and Jengging, and one platoon of state police in Yingkiong.
The proposed deployment in Siang district included five companies: two companies in Begging, two in Parong village, and one in the Boleng NHPC office. One company of state police was supposed to be stationed in Boleng HQ, with a platoon each of women police to be posted at the NHPC office in Boleng, Boleng HQ, and Parong village, as well as in Pasighat in East Siang.
The government’s initial plans for the Lower Siang HEP (2,700 mw) and the Siang Upper HEP Stage-II (3,750 mw) had already faced resistance for over two decades. Amid growing fears and opposition, the capacity was expanded to 11,000 mw without new studies, triggering a wave of protests. In August 2024, the first survey was proposed, leading villagers to organise a series of protests in Dite Dime and Geku, led by the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum.
