Mega dam, protest in Arunachal

Sub: Geo

Sec: Human geo

Context:

Two anti-dam activists against the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Project from Arunachal Pradesh were detained before Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s visit.

The Upper Siang Project:

Proposed 11,000 MW hydropower project on the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh.
Siang originates in Tibet as Tsangpo and becomes Brahmaputra downstream in Assam.
The government replaced two planned projects with a single 11,000 MW project by NHPC.
The project includes a 300-meter high dam, the largest in the subcontinent.
There are 29 hydroelectric projects in the Siang River basin with a combined capacity of 18,326 MW.
The upper Siang project’s capacity is 60% of the total current capacity.
Strategically aims to counter China’s hydel projects on Tsangpo, especially the planned 60,000 MW ‘super dam’ in Tibet.

Environmental and Social Concerns:

Concerns about the displacement of over 300 villages, including Upper Siang district headquarters in Yingkiong.
Threatens ancestral lands, delicate ecosystems, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.
Impact on livelihood and cultural practices.

About Siang/Brahmaputra river:

The Brahmaputra is a transboundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh.
It is also known as the YarlungTsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and the Jamuna River in Bangla.
It is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge and the 15th longest.
With its origin in the Manasarovar Lake region, near Mount Kailash, on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet where it is known as the YarlungTsangpo River, It flows along southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great Gorges (including the YarlungTsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Arunachal Pradesh.
It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as the Brahmaputra and south through Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be confused with the Yamuna of India).
In the vast Ganges Delta, it merges with the Ganges, popularly known as the Padma in Bangladesh, and becomes the Meghna and ultimately empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Source: IE