SADIYA: A groundswell of dissent against the Dibang Multipurpose Hydro Project has spilt across state lines, with a committee representing affected communities raising a strong voice of protest from Sadiya, Assam.
The Dibang Multipurpose Hydro Project Downstream Affected Area Committee (DMHPDAAC), which has been at the forefront of the movement, held a press conference here on Friday, alleging that their democratic protests in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley were suppressed under the directives of the Roing Deputy Commissioner’s office.
This forced them to cross the state border into Assam to continue their demonstration, a move the committee claims highlights the dwindling democratic space for those impacted by the project.
The DMHPDAAC claims the proposed dam poses a grave threat to life, land, and biodiversity across both Sadiya in Assam and Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. “The governments at the Centre and the state are treating us as third-class citizens, denying us our rights and pushing us towards displacement,” a committee member alleged, expressing deep resentment at being forced to act “like refugees” in another state just to assert their fundamental rights.
The committee did not hold back in its criticism of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), accusing the public sector undertaking of making hollow promises. “We are exhausted with NHPC’s false promises. Now, we are prepared to face any challenge against them,” the members asserted, pointing to the past negligence in the Ranganadi Dam project, where a guide bund was never built in the downstream areas. “If safety measures were ignored in Ranganadi, what certainty is there that they will be implemented in Dibang?” they questioned.
Further, the committee alleged financial mismanagement, stating that ₹215 crore released by NHPC as compensation to the Arunachal Pradesh government has not been utilised in the Dibang district.
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