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| Photo Credit: AP
Activists and farmers in Arunachal Pradesh have urged the Union government not to invoke China’s planned hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet to push ahead with the proposed 11,500 megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) on the Siang River.The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper stream of the Siang, which flows into Arunachal Pradesh and later meets two other rivers in Assam to form the Brahmaputra.The Medog Hydropower Station in Tibet, being pursued by China, is expected to generate 60,000 MW of electricity - nearly three times the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. While Beijing claims it is a clean energy initiative, both India and Bangladesh have expressed concerns about the downstream impact of the project.“Instead of creating fear over the Medog project, the Government of India should consult with its Chinese counterpart to get an accurate status of the project before pushing the SUMP through,” Ebo Mili, a lawyer and anti-dam activist from Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley, said while addressing the press in New Delhi on Saturday.The press conference was organised by members of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF), their legal advisors, and anti-dam activists from Uttarakhand.The SUMP, with a proposed capacity of 11,500 MW, is expected to submerge 27 villages and displace over 1.5 lakh members of the Adi tribe, in addition to impacting forest cover, farmland, and sites of cultural importance, including Kekar Moying - a landmark associated with the Anglo-Abor War during the colonial period.Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has defended the project as a “defensive measure” against any potential water-related threats from the Medog project, which he termed a ticking “time bomb”. He also underlined the absence of a water treaty between India and China. China has no such treaty with any of the 13 countries it shares borders with.However, SIFF president Lamok Padun said a majority of villagers in the Siang belt are opposed to the SUMP, even as the State government is “hell-bent” on pushing it forward. He alleged that local village chiefs were being coerced into signing agreements for the pre-feasibility report (PFR) through pressure tactics.China’s mega dam will be ‘water bomb’: Arunachal MP“Village heads are being suspended for opposing the SUMP, protestors and members of the SIFF are being detained and arrested arbitrarily, leaders of the SIFF and Adi Students’ Union are being criminalised through false charges, and pro-PFR signatures of villagers in the submergence zone are being forged,” Mr. Padun said.SIFF’s legal advisor Bhanu Tatak alleged that the Union and State governments were militarising the Siang region to curb mobilisation. “The government is resorting to violent means to gag us,” she said.The National Hydropower Corporation has been tasked with preparing the PFR for the ₹1.13 lakh crore project, under heavy security cover. In December 2024, more than 350 environmentalists, scientists, journalists, and civil society organisations had submitted a joint letter to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking the withdrawal of security forces from the area.The Adi community, which inhabits the Siang belt, reveres the river as ‘Ane’ (mother) and views the idea of damming it as sacrilegious. Published - August 03, 2025 04:30 pm IST
