Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Indigenous groups held a three-hour sit-in at Baithalangso on Tuesday. They gathered to fight two massive pumped storage power projects planned for Karbi Anglong. The protesters also demanded the immediate freedom of land rights activist Pranab Doley.
The Autonomous People’s Movement, All Tiwa Students’ Union, and other local groups organized the event. They sent a formal memorandum to the Assam Chief Minister via the West Karbi Anglong deputy commissioner. Their message was clear: stop handing tribal land to private corporate interests.
The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited wants to build a 1,500-MW plant at Lipgaon and a 900-MW facility near Tharakhunchi. These projects threaten forest cover and local livelihoods. The Lipgaon site requires diverting 441.9 hectares of reserved forest and cutting 21,767 trees. Nine families face displacement there, with another 89 families listed as affected. Wildlife in the area includes leopards, hoolock gibbons, and king cobras.
The Tharakhunchi project demands 79.37 hectares of forest land. Crews plan to fell 6,905 trees and remove bamboo groves. Officials expect to displace seven families, with 294 more families designated as project-affected. Residents argue that these plans ignore their rights under the Sixth Schedule.
Protesters also voiced strong support for Pranab Doley. Authorities booked Doley under the National Security Act for resisting land transfers linked to a Hyatt luxury hotel project near Kaziranga National Park. Local groups stated: "The land, forests, hills and natural resources of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong were closely linked to the customary rights, identity and livelihoods of indigenous communities."
Beyond the power plants, the groups pushed for a final resolution to the long-standing boundary dispute. They insist that all future development must rely on community consent. Tribal residents want to protect their traditional resources from corporate expansion.
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