‘Dam for a dam’: India, China edge towards a Himalayan water war
Despite local protests, India is building a giant hydro dam on the Siang River to counter a Chinese dam – the world’s largest – upstream in Tibet. Millions of people in India and Bangladesh could be hurt.
New Delhi, India – Gegong Jijong lined up with hundreds of other protesters on a cold afternoon last month near the Siang River in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, shouting antigovernment slogans.
“No dam over Ane Siang [Mother Siang],” the protesters in Parong village demanded.
The Siang River, cutting through serene hills, has been considered sacred for centuries by Jijong’s ancestors in the Adi tribal community – farmers whose livelihood depended on its water.
But all of that is now at risk, he said, as India moves to build its largest dam over their land.
The $13.2bn Siang Upper Multipurpose Project will have a reservoir that can hold nine billion cubic metres of water and generate 11,000 megawatts of electricity upon completion – more than any other Indian hydroelectric project. It was first proposed in 2017, and officials are now carrying out feasibility surveys.
Locals, however, warn that at least 20 villages will be submerged, and nearly two dozen more villages will partly drown, uprooting thousands of residents.
Amid intensifying resistance from locals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led state government has ordered the deployment of paramilitary forces to quell protests, though there have not been any clashes yet.
The protesters insist that they are not going anywhere. “The government is taking over my home, our Ane Siang, and converting it into an industry. We cannot let that happen,” said Jijong, the president of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) community initiative. “Till the