Guwahati: Opposing the proposed 11 GW Siang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh, the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF), an umbrella organisation representing various Adi farming communities have questioned the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schemes which are being implemented by the dam developer, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, a government-owned company.
After a coordination meeting held on March 5 at Parong Dere of East Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, the members alleged that dam-affected villages were not consulted before implementing CSR schemes.
The farmers in Siang district point to a meeting chaired by the Siang Deputy Commissioner, P.N. Thungon, held on October 10, 2023, in Boleng in which implementation of CSR in the presence of NHPC officials was discussed.
According to the minutes of the meeting as accessed by EastMojo, Rs 16.61 crore had been previously allotted in a meeting held in August 2023 for various CSR activities to be undertaken by NHPC. During the October 10 meeting, the Chairman (in-charge), NHPC Pasighat told the stakeholders that Rs 16.61 crore should not be exceeded.
The minutes of the meeting show that after a discussion members decided to utilise the CSR fund for various developmental schemes. That included procurement of one Innova car and three Boleros for the District Administration, a mobile medical unit with doctors and nurses run by a private healthcare company like Piramal, irrigation facilities in seven villages, upgrades to model school from secondary school and guest houses.
SIFF members however point to a Gauhati High Court judgement of 2022 which led to the cancellation of 44 hydropower as well as dam projects in the 290-kilometre-long Siang valley. “The proposed Upper Siang Hydroelectric Project with 11 GW and now the CSR activities planned in the villages to be impacted by the dam is a violation of Gauhati High Court that cancelled 44 such projects in the dam,” the President of SIFF, Gegong Jijong told EastMojo on Wednesday.
The SIFF President further added that the Gauhati High Court judgement stated that any new project on Siang has to be pursued in strict accordance with laws, with proper consultation with the local people. “As per the minutes of the meeting held in October 2023 between NHPC and Siang District Administration, no such meeting has taken place between the people of these villages, Siang District Administration and NHPC,” Jijong added.
SIFF members have also accused the Chief Minister, Pema Khandu and Panging-Boleng MLA, Ojin Tasing of paving the way to conduct pre-feasibility surveys in the Siang River in 2022. “During the CM visit at Boleng in 2022, the sitting MLA and the CM carried out a survey at night for the pre-feasibility study report for Siang dam,” stated the press communique issued by SIFF on Wednesday.
The farmers’ organisation has also alleged that model villages have been sanctioned by NHPC at Gete, Komkar, Pangkang (Kumku) and Pangkang (Jorkong) despite numerous representations to the government against the construction of the Siang Dam. “The district administration and SP of Boleng [Siang] are allegedly harassing the villages to vacate their villages so NHPC,” the communique stated.
Siang Deputy Commissioner, P.N. Thongon, however, countered the allegations stating the SIFF members are politically motivated against the Arunachal Government. Thungon claimed that the district administration had the support of the local Adi Kebang, an apex body of the Adi Society. “If those who have made these allegations can prove that we have harassed any individual, I will resign from my position,” Thungon told EastMojo reacting to the allegations.
“The CSR initiatives are being supported by the local Kebang as well as village residents,” the Deputy Commissioner added. On the other hand, sources in NHPC stated that no dam construction work has started in Siang Valley as of now so the CSR initiatives cannot be linked to the construction of any dam.
Following the 233 Memorandum of Agreements (MoA) and Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) between the Arunachal Pradesh government and the public sector as well as private dam builders in 2009, SIFF and some more organisations from in the Siang Valley petitioned before the Gauhati High Court against 44 proposed dams in 2014.
It was estimated in a cumulative impact assessment study that dams on the Siang River would impact 24000 hectares of forests and agricultural lands in the valley. Since the petition, several such dam projects have been abandoned by the developers. In 2022, the Gauhati High Court scrapped all the 44 dams proposed in the Siang River.
However, in 2017, NITI Aayog proposed a 300-metre-tall hydroelectric dam in the Siang Valley. In December 2022, NHPC completed the pre-feasibility study for the dam. Despite vehement opposition against hydropower dams in Siang, NITI Aayog has rationalised dam building in Siang as a counter to Chinese dam-building activity on the Tsangpo River, which is the source of Siang or what becomes Brahmaputra as it enters Assam.
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