Protests against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) in Arunachal Pradesh have turned violent after more than a year of peaceful demonstrations. On 4 October, protesters resisting the project were allegedly lathi charged by police and paramilitary forces in Uggeng village. The police action comes days after protesters attacked an MLA’s house and allegedly set vehicles on fire during a scheduled visit to the region by Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Residents of the Siang and Upper Siang districts have consistently opposed the 11,000 megawatt dam project and blocked all efforts to carry out a Pre-Feasibility Report study (PFR) to determine its viability. Khandu planned to meet with residents of the area reportedly to have a dialogue about the project, and persuade them to allow feasibility studies to be carried out in the area. “People don’t want the PFR to take place because they don’t want the dam at all,” said Christina Pangam, a resident of Yingkiong and a local news reporter. Protests intensified on 14 September when the state government deployed hundreds of police and paramilitary forces to the villages of Uggeng and Komkar — among the three proposed sites of the dam. Residents blocked roads into the area to prevent the PFR from taking place. “There has been a lot of misinformation that has been creating anxiety about the PFR going through,” said Pangam. In June, Khandu said the government had obtained support to carry out the PFR from 110 families after signing a memorandum with them. According to…This article was originally published on Mongabay
