Pasighat: Officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD), Gaon Burahs and public leaders of Namsing village under Namsing Circle of Mebo Sub-Division in East Siang district on Monday visited various sites of the Siang River, which has shifted towards the left bank from its original course. This shift has caused massive flooding, erosion and damage across Mebo Sub-Division.
The WRD team was led by Superintendent Engineer Er. Tanu Tasing, Executive Engineer, Pasighat Division, Er. Onit Panyang, AE Mebo Er. Alat Megu, and JE Er. Rassia Tayeng.
The public delegation from Namsing was led by former Monggu Banggo-II ZPM Gumin Tayeng, Gaon Burah Bohonto Perme, Village Secretary Banggoi Pertin and others. The ground survey covered various river courses where the Siang has turned towards the left bank north of Namsing and Jopong, within the jurisdiction of the D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary.
The inspection was carried out as per the direction and instruction of Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng so that a crush programme of flood control works could be initiated during the current winter season to reduce the impact of monsoon floods along the left bank of the Siang at Namsing, Gadum, Mer, Seram and Borguli villages.
Gaon Burah Bohonto Perme and former ZPM Gumin Tayeng stated that one major site where the river has shifted from its original right bank to the left bank between Borguli and the Sibiyamukh Wildlife Range in the north-west of Namsing village, along with two to three sites in the north-west of Jopong opposite Borguli and Seram villages, need immediate diversion to mitigate flood woes in the left bank villages.
The villagers identified and showed the most vulnerable points from where the river current diverts towards the left bank to the WRD engineers, who will now prepare the master plan and detailed engineering designs for execution of river course diversions.
WRD SE Tanu Tasing and EE Onit Panyang said that the flood control works and funding process would be initiated by the Mebo MLA, and the department would make every effort to ensure the project is effective and impactful so that the major volume of the river is diverted back to its old and original course.
Meanwhile, Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng said efforts to divert the Siang’s river courses from multiple locations would be undertaken through voluntary donations and crowd funding in the absence of adequate government funding.
“We can’t wait for government funding any longer, as the Siang River’s annual floods have been damaging and destroying huge tracts of agricultural land, roads, electricity infrastructure, administrative office buildings and village houses year after year. Witnessing all this destruction and hearing the grievances of my people, I often feel guilty for being helpless due to lack of government funding,” Tayeng said.
“In order to save public property from further erosion, I will request and appeal to fellow MLAs, Ministers, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Minister, along with other well-wishers of the state, to support this initiative through crowd funding and voluntary donations to carry out flood control crush programmes at the identified sites,” he added.
Tayeng said the flood control works and diversion of river currents would include construction of boulder bunds on a self-help and voluntary basis by residents of flood-affected villages, digging and clearing of river channels using JCBs, poclains and other machinery, with funds used meticulously for procurement of materials, hiring of machinery, boats, galvanised steel wires and related requirements.
He expressed firm hope that like-minded people across the state, including fellow legislators, would come forward to support the initiative for the flood-affected areas of the 39th Mebo Assembly constituency.
The original course of the Siang River, which earlier flowed along the right bank from Komlighat–Maktumghat–Pillumukh–Kemimukh–Oiramghat prior to the infamous Chinese flood of 2000, gradually shifted towards the left bank over the years.
The 2000 Chinese flood opened new channels towards the old Sibiya River, locally known as Ga:ne, which branches off north of Sigar village. Flood damage along the left bank of Lower Mebo intensified further after the collapse of a major flood control project worth Rs 35 crore near north-west Sigar village in 2020.
Many critics from flood-affected villages in Lower Mebo continue to blame the then leadership for splitting the Rs 35 crore flood control project, with Rs 30 crore allocated for flood control works and Rs 5 crore diverted towards rebuilding school infrastructure.
Critics argue there was no justification for dividing the funds and that the entire amount should have been utilised solely for flood protection through construction of boulder bunds in erosion-prone areas.
The Rs 35 crore project had been sanctioned by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in August 2019 for anti-erosion and flood protection works across ten villages under Mebo Sub-Division, aimed at protecting villages and thousands of acres of agricultural land from the Siang’s erosion.
WRD officials stated that if the proposed community-funded initiative to divert river currents at multiple locations succeeds, people of Lower Mebo could experience temporary relief from annual flood erosion until a major flood control project worth approximately Rs 250 crore is sanctioned by the Government of India.
The proposed project falls under the consolidated Brahmaputra basin flood control programme for left and right banks, with a total estimated cost of Rs 486.74 crore. WRD officials further informed that the Technical Advisory Committee had already cleared the total project cost on September 9, 2025, and subsequent submission processes are underway. If approved by the ministry, the project is expected to significantly mitigate the recurring flood woes of the people of Lower Mebo.
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