Context: Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF), a peasants’ organisation, and the Indigenous Rights Advocacy Dibang (IRAD) have urged the state government to withdraw a pact for executing the proposed 10,000 MW hydropower project on the Siang River.
About Siang River
- The Tsangpo – Yarlung Zangbo, as it is known in China – enters Arunachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Dihang (or Siang) River.
- It turns towards the south and enters Assam, where it is joined by two mountain streams, the Lohit and the Dibang, and thereafter it is known as the Brahmaputra.
- It meanders through the heartland of Arunachal Pradesh, inhabited by the Adis.
Who are the Adi Tribes?
- It is one of the major tribes of Northeast India.
- It consists of 14 sub-tribes, namely Ashing, Bori, Bokar, Karko, Komkar, Minyong, Millang, Pasi, Padam, Panggi, Pailibo, Ramo, Shimong and Tangam.
- They are predominantly inhabited in sub-tropical regions of the Siang belt and Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
- They have Mongoloid features patriarchal society, and possess a strong base of traditional knowledge about forest structure and ecosystem function.
- They mostly follow the age-old tradition of Animism known as “Donyi Polo”, and practice jhum for their agriculture.
- The Adi people speak a language also called Adi, which is distantly related to Chinese and Tibetan languages.
