Itanagar: The Adi Students’ Union (AdiSU) has appealed to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu to intervene and withdraw paramilitary forces deployed in Siang and Upper Siang districts for the pre-feasibility report (PFR) of the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
In a memorandum submitted on Monday, the students’ body alleged that the deployment of security personnel was done without proper consultation with the affected communities, creating panic among villagers.
AdiSU further claimed illegal occupation of government school premises in Boleng, Pangin, Kaying and Pessing, and objected to the suspension of several gaon burahs (GBs) and head gaon burahs (HGBs).
The organisation has demanded four key actions: removal of paramilitary forces, eviction of encroachers from school lands, reinstatement of suspended GBs and HGBs, and suspension of PFR activities until consultations are held with all 31 affected villages.
It warned of launching democratic protests within 15 days if the demands were not met.
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The proposed SUMP, a run-of-the-river project on the Siang River, has an estimated capacity of 11,000 MW.
Conceived by the NHPC in 2009, the project aims to serve multiple purposes, including power generation, irrigation, and flood control.
If constructed to its full scale, the reservoir would be one of the largest in India, with a storage capacity of nearly nine billion cubic metres.
Officials claim that community support for the project is growing, citing recent village-level MoUs as evidence of confidence in its potential to safeguard lives and boost regional development.
