The government insists the massive dam is about water control, not electricity. But with China looming large upstream and local communities pushing back hard, the debate around Siang is far from over. When a government official says a proposed 11,200-megawatt hydroelectric project is not really about power generation, it makes you stop and think. And … Read more
Clashes at Riga and Ugeng leave CRPF personnel — including an Assistant Commandant — and protesters seriously injured. The Siang is boiling, and not just with water. There is something quietly devastating about watching a river community go to war to protect the very land their ancestors named. On Sunday, October 5, that quiet desperation … Read more
When a minister says national security is non-negotiable, you know the conversation has moved far beyond megawatts and dams. The battle lines over the proposed 11,000-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project are getting sharper. On Sunday, October 4, Arunachal Pradesh minister Ojing Tasing came out swinging in support of the contentious project, making it absolutely clear … Read more
When the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh has to flee by helicopter from his own state’s district, something has gone deeply, seriously wrong. That is exactly what happened in Yingkiong on September 30, when protests over the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) turned violent — forcing Chief Minister Pema Khandu to cut short his … Read more
Amid road blockades and simmering anger, Arunachal’s Chief Minister personally travels to one of the state’s most tense flashpoints — and makes a promise that has people both listening and wondering. Pema Khandu did not send a minister. He went himself. On Wednesday, Arunachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister arrived in Siang and Upper Siang districts — … Read more
The fate of one of the most ambitious — and most debated — infrastructure projects in Northeast India now rests on a single document. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said loud and clear on September 29 that the proposed Siang Upper Multi-Purpose Project, known as SUMP, will not move an inch forward unless the … Read more
The roads are blocked. The anger is real. And Geku’s message to the government couldn’t be any clearer. As Chief Minister Pema Khandu prepares to visit Boleng in Siang district on September 29 and Yingkiong in Upper Siang district on September 30, the mood in the Siang Valley is anything but welcoming. Villagers in Geku … Read more
The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee has sent a fact-finding team straight into the heart of SUMP country. With paramilitary boots already on the ground there, someone needs to ask the questions that aren’t being answered. There is something happening in the Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh that the government hasn’t fully explained. Communities are rattled. … Read more
The Arunachal Pradesh government just made a move to fast-track one of the most controversial infrastructure projects in the state’s history — and it’s already stirring up fresh friction. The state Cabinet, on September 24, gave its approval to form an empowered high-level committee that will guide and coordinate the pre-feasibility report (PFR) survey for … Read more
They’ve had enough. The Adi Bane Kebang-United (ABK-U), the apex body of the Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, has made its position crystal clear — the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) must go. Not be reviewed. Not be paused. Gone. At a press conference held at the Arunachal Press Club in Itanagar on Tuesday, … Read more
