Staff Reporter
PASIGHAT, 22 Oct: The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, or SUMP, is facing intensified opposition as a 24-hour peaceful sit-in dharna began at 2:00 PM on Thursday at the Miracle Ground in Pasighat. Organized by the Save Siang, Save Indigenous Rights Committee, the demonstration represents concerned Indigenous communities, project-affected residents, and local citizens. The local administration has granted permission for the protest. The demonstrators are demanding an immediate halt to all pre-feasibility reports and surveys, the release of detained anti-dam activists, the quashing of related FIRs, and the withdrawal of the Central Armed Police Forces.
Meanwhile, several anti-dam organizations-led by the Adi Bane Kebang-United, the SUMP-Affected Youth Association, the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum, and the Adi Galo Welfare Society-have called for a 12-hour bandh across the Siang and Upper Siang districts on October 23.
The shutdown is intended to protest their unmet demands for scrapping the project and withdrawing armed forces from the region. The organizing groups have appealed to all sections of society to support their movement, stating that their objective is to protect ancestral land and voice opposition against what they term the state government's bullying of innocent citizens under the guise of survey works on the Siang River.
However, the Bogong Banggo Kebang of Pasighat in East Siang district has declined to support the 12-hour bandh. In a public notice, the organization stated that the strike organizers failed to officially communicate their decision beforehand.
Despite this, loud protests against the project persist across various locations in the Siang and Upper Siang districts. Local villagers and anti-dam groups continue to demand an end to all surveys, the withdrawal of armed forces, and the immediate release of innocent villagers currently held in police custody for their involvement in the movement.
The anti-dam movement is drawing widespread attention across the state, bringing students, women, senior citizens, former bureaucrats, political leaders, and intellectuals to the streets. Former Chief Minister and social activist Gegong Apang, a long-time critic of mega-hydropower projects in the Siang belt, has reiterated his call for the state government to scrap the project. He also raised questions regarding transparency and the utilization of funds meant for preliminary project activities.
Apang emphasized that local villagers are fighting for survival, as the proposed 11,000 MW hydropower project threatens their habitat and future livelihoods. He urged elected MLAs and MPs from the Adi belt to resign from their constitutional posts and join the movement to protect their ancestral land and natural resources for future generations.
