GUWAHATI: Tensions flared during a 12-hour bandh against the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang region on Friday after protestors targeted security forces with stones, prompting the personnel to fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Four to five police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel were injured in stone pelting, a senior police official said. At least four women, who suffered breathing difficulties after being exposed to tear gas, were admitted to a hospital.
Police said the bandh was peaceful in Siang district until over 200 protestors from Upper Siang district, particularly from Geku and Komkar, arrived at Dite-Dime in Siang district around 7 am.
"They attempted to enter Siang district while carrying machetes, lathis, slingshots, and other items. They also attempted to vandalise barricades, obstructed personnel deployed at the location, and pelted stones at the security forces,” the police said.
The police further stated that “lawful action was initiated against the protestors in the presence of the Executive Magistrate after proper announcement.
Several local organisations had jointly called for the bandh in the Siang belt demanding the scrapping of SUMP and withdrawal of armed forces from the region, deployed allegedly in connection with pre-feasibility report (PFR) or survey.
A section of activists and villagers stand opposed to SUMP due to fears of displacement, loss of livelihoods and environmental and seismic risks. They view the “forceful” PFR survey as a blatant violation of their fundamental rights.
On September 23, the Arunachal Cabinet passed a resolution approving the constitution of an Empowered High-Level Committee to guide and coordinate the PFR survey and associated activities for SUMP in Siang and Upper Siang districts.
The central government envisaged SUMP, which will generate an estimated 11,000 MW of power, as a counter to a 60,000 MW Chinese hydropower project.
Earlier, Chief Minister Pema Khandu stated that the Chinese project was a matter of grave concern. “No one knows what China might do. It could even use this as a sort of water bomb,” he had stated.
According to Khandu, China, which is not a signatory to the International Water Conventions, intends to divert water from multiple reservoirs, which will be created under its project, to the dry regions of Tibet and other parts of the country.