2 min readGuwahatiSep 11, 2010 02:36 AM IST
First published on: Sep 11, 2010 at 02:36 AM IST
At least eight people were killed when flash floods and mudslides caused by the Siang as the Tsangpo is known immediately after it enters Indian territory washed away several houses in Mossing village in the upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday evening. Flash floods have also cut off road links in several districts of the frontier state.
Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had to call off his trip to Pasighat in East Siang district after the overflowing Siang inundated the airfield on Thursday night. Ramesh was scheduled to attend a public consultation on a series of dams that are coming up on the Siang.
The Siang,Subansiri and other rivers in Arunachal Pradesh have been in the news in recent times because of the opposition to the construction of dams as part of hydro-electric projects. The 1600-MW Siang lower hydel project and the 2000-MW Subansiri lower hydel project have particularly triggered off a controversy due to the size of the dams to be made on a highly seismic zone.
Official sources in Itanagar said that the eight people who were killed in Mossing village under Tuting circle in the upper Siang district,which shares international boundary with China,were washed away along with their houses. Incessant rain in the upper reaches of the eastern Himalayas has made the Siang,which becomes the Brahmaputra on entering Assam,overflow. Dozens of houses have also been washed away by flashfloods and mudslides in Yingkiong,the hometown of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang who is currently under judicial custody after being arrested on August 24 for his alleged involvement in a Rs 1000-cr PDS scam.
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