[ Indu Chukhu & Marina Dai ]
ITANAGAR/BEGGING, 24 May: The protest in Begging village in Siang district entered its second day on Saturday as local residents and the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) continued to demonstrate against conducting survey to prepare the pre-feasibility report (PFR) for the proposed 11,000 mw Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
The villagers have set up a camp near the survey site,approximately 1 km from Begging village, to prevent further survey activities.
SIFF executive members and youth wing representatives are expected to maintain a daily vigil at the camp until the removal of the tent and machines from the survey site. No CAPF personnel are allowed access to the area.
They have vowed to continue their sit-in protest at the camp until their demands are met, according to SIFF representatives.
SIFF Riew village unit president Tasong Jamoh said, “I don’t want to lose my land, so I am protesting again and again to protect it. During the election, the government promised that no survey for the dam would be conducted without our consent. But now they are forcibly trying to carry out the survey without informing or consulting with us.”
He added that “we will not move from the camp until our demands are met.”
Meanwhile, on Friday the SIFF submitted a three-day ultimatum to the deputy commissioner of Siang district, demanding immediate removal of CAPF personnel from Siang, Upper Siang, and East Siang districts; withdrawal of drilling machines from the Begging survey site; and an assurance that no further forcible activity related to the PFR will be carried out without the free, prior, and informed consent of the local communities.
Meanwhile, Rural Development Minister and Pangin MLA Ojing Tasing said that “a minority of the people are leading the SIFF protest and they are not even from Siang but from Dibang Valley district.”
“Some people do not want any development for the sake of opposition. Constructing a dam is not only for generating power but also for security,” he added, referring to China’s constructing a 60,000 mw hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River.
Tasing said that “the majority of the population in Siang are pro-dam and only 20-30 percent of the population are protesting against the dam.”
“My message is very loud and clear: there cannot be one-sided talk; it should be a win-win position,” he said.
On being told that he had won the election based on his anti-dam speech during the 2024 election campaign, Tasing promptly denied the allegation. “My stand over the proposed dam was clear in the 2024 election. I had never made any commitment to the people to vote for me for my views, as I am a pro-dam leader. I will say yes to dam, that was my clear cut statement during the 2024 election campaign,” he said.
Speaking to this daily, interlocutor between the government and the SUMP-affected people, Nalong Mize, said that “there should be a channel of dialogue with the dam-affected people and the government, which should be kept open.”
Concerning the signing of an MoU between Pangkang-Kumku village and the state government, he said he has never visited the village except during public meeting.
Mize informed that, out of the 54 households, 45 households in the village have signed the MoU. He, however, did not comment on how many other villagers are expected to sign MoUs to allow survey work for the PFR.
“The government has been talking with the SIFF since February 2025. Former SIFF president Gegong Jigong was the president during their first meeting in Boleng, along with 24 villages of Siang district,” he said.
Mize said that he shared his views at the meeting and sought a middle path.
