Arunachal: Flood-Hit Villages of Lower Mebo and Lower Dambuk Await Urgent Action as Siang River Erosion Worsens
Continuous soil erosion has plunged several villages — including Seram, Kongkul, Namsing, Gadum-I, Gadum-II, Mer, Banggo, and Paglam into darkness ......
PASIGHAT ( By Maksam Tayeng )- Villagers in the lower parts of Mebo Sub-Division under East Siang district and Lower Dambuk in Lower Dibang Valley are living in fear as the mighty Siang River continues to erode its banks, washing away farmlands, power lines, and homes.
Continuous soil erosion has plunged several villages — including Seram, Kongkul, Namsing, Gadum-I, Gadum-II, Mer, Banggo, and Paglam — into darkness after nearly a kilometer of 11kV power line was swept away earlier this week. Despite the Power Department’s prompt restoration efforts in September, repeated damage at multiple sites has worsened the crisis.
An Eco-hut of the D. Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary near the old Bakkul Saturday market is also under severe threat from the advancing river.
Mebo MLA Oken Tayeng, accompanied by ADC Nancy Yirang and CO Toimi Tagi, visited the worst-affected areas to assess the damage. Large stretches of cultivable land have been lost, leaving many families landless.
Tayeng stated that he has repeatedly raised the issue with Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy CM Chowna Mein, and central officials. A comprehensive flood control proposal — including a 50-km embankment-cum-road from Sigar to Paglam — remains pending with the central government.
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Experts stress that without a major flood control embankment similar to the Bogibeel and Sadiya models in Assam, protecting Lower Mebo from Siang’s fury will be nearly impossible. Locals are demanding a combined Mebo–Dhola Road and Siang River Flood Control Project to save their villages and turn the area into a potential river-view tourism circuit.
The delay in project re-submission under the Brahmaputra Basin Development Plan has heightened public anxiety as the Siang continues to eat away hundreds of hectares of fertile land each monsoon.
Residents are now urging both the state and central governments to treat the issue as an emergency and initiate long-term flood mitigation measures on a war footing.
