File photo: Siang dam protest turns violent as mob torches NHPC office and police station in Arunachal
PASIGHAT/ITANAGAR: A 12-hour bandh against a proposed hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district turned violent Monday, with mobs damaging vehicles and NHPC equipment and wounding two security personnel as anti-dam protests spread from Siang basin to Subansiri valley, report Kangkan Kalita and Joken Ete.The latest flashpoint was Daporijo town, 220km west of Pasighat by road. NHPC equipment, a company vehicle and two police vehicles were damaged during the bandh called by All Tagin Students’ Union and other organisations against Menga dam, part of the proposed 1,605MW Subansiri Upper Hydroelectric Project. Police conducted a flag march in Daporijo and appealed for peace.
Remove central forces, say protesters; depends on restoration of peace: Government
Constable-driver Hibu Lasha and a CRPF man were wounded. Both were shifted to Ziro for treatment,” Upper Subansiri SP Pawan Kumar Yadav said.The bandh began at 5am over opposition to the proposed Menga dam and an alleged attempt to detain ATSU president Tadak Pakba. Backed by student unions and community groups from the Subansiri basin, the agitation grew out of fears that the project would threaten their land, livelihoods, and future.Earlier, Pasighat recorded widespread arson, vandalism and clashes with security forces when protesters laid siege to the East Siang district headquarters from Friday night to early Saturday over the proposed 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), with its main reservoir planned near Geku village, about 35km downstream from Upper Siang district headquarters Yingkiong.
The Siang flows from Tibet into the ancestral land of the Adi community inhabiting Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts, while Upper Subansiri is home to the Tagin community. The Adi and Tagin people are closely related.Tension continued in Upper Siang, where protesters demanded the release of people arrested for the violence and four activists placed under preventive detention. They also demanded the withdrawal of central security forces and an immediate halt to the pre-feasibility survey for the project.
Upper Siang DC Ashok Tajo said govt was examining their cases, but release of those detained required further approvals. Protesters had set Sunday as the deadline. He said pulling out central forces from affected areas would depend on restoration of peace. “We are ready to facilitate talks between the villagers and govt,” Tajo said, urging villagers to nominate representatives to begin dialogue.
Kangkan Kalita is a reporter with The Times of India and covers issues on health, education, stories of human interest while keeping a close watch on political developments and student movements. Reporting on environment and forest related issues and concerns of the northeast interest him equally.