| Staff REPORTER |
ITANAGAR, Sep 22: The Adi Baane Kebang-United (ABK-U) has demanded complete scrapping of the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) and an immediate halt to all Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) activities.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, ABK-U president Thomas Borang claimed that the Adi community people are totally opposed to the proposed SUMP, stating that the mega dam would submerge the migratory routes of the Adis, besides causing ecological and environmental damage and destruction. He also expressed serious concern over its possible impact on the downstream population of the Siang Valley and Assam.
“Besides, the proposed SUMP would submerge two important administrative headquarters—Yingkiong, the district headquarters of Upper Siang, and Geku—under the dam reservoir, along with several villages, historical sites of the Adi community, and agricultural and horticultural areas,” he claimed.
Borang said the resolution was adopted by the Adi community during a consultative committee meeting held at Geku on September 16, where concerns were raised over the proposed storage-type mega dam and its possible impact on people, land, traditional institutions and the environment. He said that the same memorandum has been submitted to the Chief Minister, concerned ministers and the Governor.
During the meeting, Borang informed, the community has also demanded an immediate halt to PFR activities, withdrawal of security forces from villages and project sites, revocation of suspension orders against Gaon Burahs and protection of traditional Adi customary laws and practices.
Borang disputed Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s recent assertion that around 75–80 per cent of people in the proposed dam-affected areas had signed MoUs indicating support for the project. He alleged that some people had been compelled or misled into signing the documents and said the government should directly consult affected villagers and families.
Responding to the government’s statement that the proposed dam would help protect against a possible 60,000MW dam being constructed by China, he questioned how an 11,000-MW dam could control a 60,000-MW dam. He termed the argument misleading and rejected it as a false justification for water security.
Borang further claimed that, according to research, around 80 percent of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra/Siang River originate within Indian territory, including Arunachal Pradesh, while only around 20 percent of the water comes from the Tibetan region. Therefore, he said, there is no serious concern regarding a “water bomb”.
Borang urged the state government to consult villagers and the actual project-affected families instead of relying on government employees who, he alleged, are under the government’s influence.