Itanagar: Prominent anti-dam activist and advocate Ebo Mili and fellow activist Otul Jerang, who are currently in Pasighat police custody in Arunachal Pradesh, have reportedly begun a hunger strike amid escalating tensions over the proposed 11.2-gigawatt (GW) Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
The two activists reportedly began the hunger strike on Monday morning.
Mili and Jerang surrendered to the police following violence linked to protests against the proposed project on Saturday night, as opposition to the mega dam intensified in the Siang region.
The agitation has centred on the proposed pre-feasibility report (PFR) for the project by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). The Adi tribal community, who are set to be affected by this mega hydropower project and anti-dam groups have repeatedly raised concerns over its potential impact on indigenous communities, land and the environment.
The unrest has prompted heightened security arrangements in the region, with the government deploying additional companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) in the Siang region against the popular demands for withdrawal of security forces.
The proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project is a mega hydropower and water-storage project on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh. While the project is being pushed for its hydropower potential and as a strategic move to counter an even more massive 66-GW hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, the upper course of the Siang by the China, indigenous communities in the Siang belt have opposed it over concerns about displacement, environmental damage and the impact on their traditional way of life.