APCC leader bats for diplomatic response to China’s mega dam near Arunachal

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ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) working president Bosiram Siram has voiced strong concerns over China’s recent approval of a $137 billion dam project on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, near the Indian border.

Calling the project a major ecological and strategic threat to downstream nations like India and Bangladesh, Siram urged the Indian government to respond firmly but wisely, through diplomacy and international engagement rather than provocation.

“China’s project poses immense risks, but India must avoid a ‘tit for tat’ reaction. We must take this issue to global platforms and assert our concerns responsibly,” Siram, a former minister said.

Highlighting India’s own hydropower ambitions in the region, Siram recalled that former NDA Power Minister P R Kumaramangalam had initiated plans for a 21,000 mw Siang hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh in 1998.

Later, under the Congress government in 2013, then Chief Minister Mukut Mithi supported the Centre’s vision of generating 50,000 MW of power, half of which was expected from Arunachal alone.

While the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) initially estimated the state’s hydropower potential at 48,000 MW, a revised assessment pegged it at 58,000 MW, earning Arunachal the title ‘Future Power House of India’, he said.

Siram cautioned against the unchecked construction of large dams in the ecologically sensitive and seismically active Zone V region.

“Congress is not opposed to hydropower, but we advocate sustainable, small and medium-scale projects that safeguard both the environment and people’s safety,” he said.

He also recalled the devastating 2000 flash flood in Pasighat caused by a dam breach in Tibet.

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