Pasighat: Officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD), along with Gaon Burahs and public leaders of Namsing village under the Namsing circle of Mebo Sub-Division in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district, on Monday visited various sites along the Siang River, where the river has shifted towards the left bank from its original course, causing severe flood erosion and damage in the Mebo Sub-Division.
The WRD team was led by Superintending Engineer Er Tanu Tasing, Executive Engineer (Pasighat Division) Er Onit Panyang, Assistant Engineer (Mebo) Er Alat Megu and Junior Engineer Er Rassia Tayeng. The public delegation from Namsing was led by former Monggu Banggo-II ZPM Gumin Tayeng, Gaon Burah Bohoto Perme, Village Secretary Banggoi Pertin, and others.
A ground survey of various river courses, where the Siang has diverted towards the left bank north of Namsing and Jopong within the jurisdiction of the D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, was conducted as per the direction of Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng. The survey aimed to initiate a crash programme of flood control works during the winter season to reduce flood impact along the left bank of the Siang River at Namsing, Gadum, Mer, Seram and Borguli villages during the monsoon.
Gaon Burah Bohonto Perme and former ZPM Gumin Tayeng stated that one major site where the river has diverted from its original right-bank course to the left bank between Borguli and the Sibiyamukh Wildlife Range, northwest of Namsing village, and two to three sites northwest of Jopong opposite Borguli and Seram villages, need diversion to reduce flood woes in left-bank villages.
Villagers also identified major vulnerable points where the river flow turns towards the left bank and showed them to the WRD engineers, who will prepare a master plan and detailed engineering designs for execution of the river diversion works.
WRD Superintending Engineer Tanu Tasing and Executive Engineer Onit Panyang said Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng would initiate the flood control works and arrange funding, while the department would make every effort to ensure the project remains effective and impactful and diverts the major volume of the river back to its original course.
Meanwhile, Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng said he would undertake efforts to divert the Siang River’s courses at multiple locations through voluntary donations and crowdfunding in the absence of adequate government funding.
“We cannot wait for government funding any longer, as the Siang River’s annual floods have been destroying agricultural land, roads, electricity infrastructure, administrative buildings and village houses year after year. Witnessing these damages and hearing the grievances of my people, I often feel guilty for being helpless due to lack of funds,” Tayeng said.
He added that he would request support from fellow MLAs, ministers, the deputy chief minister, the chief minister and other well-wishers of the state through crowdfunding and voluntary donations to carry out flood control crash programmes at selected sites.
The flood control works will involve villagers voluntarily constructing boulder bunds, workers digging and clearing river channels using JCBs and poclains, and organisers using the funds raised to procure materials, hire machinery and boats, and purchase galvanised steel wires and other essentials.
“I firmly believe that like-minded people of the state, including my fellow legislators, will support this initiative for the flood-affected areas of the 39th Mebo Assembly constituency,” Tayeng said.
The Siang River earlier flowed along the right bank from Komlighat–Maktumghat–Pillumukh–Kemimukh–Oiramghat, but after the infamous Chinese flood of 2000, the river gradually shifted its course towards the left bank over the years.
The 2000 flood opened new channels towards the old Sibiya River (locally known as Ga:ne), which branches off north of Sigar village.
Flood damage along the left bank intensified after the collapse of a major flood control project worth Rs 35 crore northwest of Sigar village in 2020.
Critics from flood-affected villages in lower Mebo continue to accuse the then leadership of splitting the Rs 35 crore flood control project into Rs 30 crore for flood protection and Rs 5 crore for rebuilding school infrastructure. They argue that authorities should have utilised the entire amount exclusively for flood control by constructing boulder bunds in vulnerable erosion zones.
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) sanctioned the Rs 35 crore project in August 2019 to carry out anti-erosion and flood protection works in 10 villages under Mebo Sub-Division, with the objective of protecting villages and thousands of acres of agricultural land from erosion by the Siang River.
WRD officials said that if the proposed community-funded river diversion initiatives succeed, people of lower Mebo could get relief from annual flood erosion until the Centre sanctions a major flood control project worth around Rs 250 crore for the left bank in lower Mebo under the consolidated Brahmaputra Basin Flood Control Project, estimated at Rs 486.74 crore for both banks.
Officials further said that the Technical Advisory Committee cleared the total project cost on September 9, 2025, and the proposal is under further submission and approval processes, which, if cleared by the ministry, would significantly mitigate recurring flood damage in lower Mebo.