Prohibitory orders have been issued in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district after groups allegedly vandalised the homes of several villagers who had recently signed an MoU backing the project.
Local reports claimed that among the houses allegedly vandalised on Monday was that of local MLA Oni Panyang.
The incident took place two days after and MLA Panyang announced that 110 households from Geku, one of the villages along the Siang river that are expected to be affected by the hydropower project, signed an MoU “in support of the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) for the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project”.
Ever since the 11,000 , it has been opposed by many families whose villages and farmlands would be affected by such a dam. Over the last couple of years, the state authorities and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) have been trying to begin work on a Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR), which has been stalled by local opposition.
As news of the MoU signing made the rounds, unrest spread to Geku on Monday.
In an executive order imposing restrictions on the assembly of people and “incitement on social media” in Geku on Tuesday, the District Magistrate of Upper Siang alleged that “anti-dam groups vandalised and caused damage to some dwelling houses and properties of pro-PFR residents within Geku township and nearby villages”.
“It is currently apprehended that there is every likelihood of the situation being further escalated by the anti-dam groups by resorting to violence, intimidation and vandalism of public properties or the properties and assets of other pro-PFR residents…,” the order said.
Both central and state governments are pushing for the Siang dam as a means to counter the possible effects of the 60,000 MW dam – the world’s largest hydro-electric project – that China is planning on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. The Yarlung Tsangpo flows into Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang, which joins other tributaries, like the Dibang and Lohit, to become the Brahmaputra in Assam.
