Save Siang

What is happening now?

Pre-Feasibility Report: a study of whether SUMP – Siang Upper Multipurpose Project is workable. It is not an approval.

What is the PFR?

Pre-Feasibility Report: a study of whether SUMP is workable. It is not an approval.

Four engineers in hard hats and safety vests looking at a plan on an outdoor table, with a river valley behind.

What does it check?

The PFR studies only the geomorphology: the shape of the land, its rocks, slopes and river valley, to see whether the project is workable there. It also looks for the best site. Effects on people and nature are studied later, in separate assessments.

How is it done?

NHPC has been engaged by Government of India only to do the PFR. It takes 3 to 6 months: four machines drill to collect rock samples. There is no loss and no effect on the environment, on the people or on anyone.

An older man in a blue checked shirt and a younger woman in a maroon cardigan sitting on a wooden bench at a hillside viewpoint, looking at a phone together, with a river valley below.

Will the findings be shared?

The government has assured that it will make the PFR’s findings public and hold detailed discussions with all areas likely to be affected.

Photo of community members seated at a meeting in a hall.

What if people say no?

Further steps happen only if the PFR finds the project workable. The government has also assured that if people do not want the project after the PFR, it will stop right there, with no further action.

See the slides (5)

What is the PFR? Pre-Feasibility Report: a study of whether SUMP is workable. It is not an approval. Three young people sitting on a hillside above a wide turquoise river, reading a booklet together.

What does it check? The PFR studies only the geomorphology: the shape of the land, its rocks, slopes and river valley, to see whether the project is workable there. It also looks for the best site. Effects on people and nature are studied later, in separate assessments. Four engineers in hard hats and safety vests looking at a plan on an outdoor table, with a river valley behind.

How is it done? NHPC has been engaged by Government of India only to do the PFR. It takes 3 to 6 months: four machines drill to collect rock samples. There is no loss and no effect on the environment, on the people or on anyone. A small drilling machine on a grassy riverbank with one worker standing beside it, a river and forested hills behind.

Will the findings be shared? The government has assured that it will make the PFR’s findings public and hold detailed discussions with all areas likely to be affected. An older man in a blue checked shirt and a younger woman in a maroon cardigan sitting on a wooden bench at a hillside viewpoint, looking at a phone together, with a river valley below.

What if people say no? Further steps happen only if the PFR finds the project workable. The government has also assured that if people do not want the project after the PFR, it will stop right there, with no further action. Photo of community members seated at a meeting in a hall.

Your questions about the PFR

Short answers about the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) for SUMP, including what is not known yet.

A calm river at dawn between forested banks under a pale pink sky.

Does the PFR mean it will be built?

No. The government has made it clear that it is not yet known whether the project is even workable, and doing the PFR does not mean it will be built.

Aerial image of a river winding through thick forest under morning mist.

Which areas would be affected?

Not known yet. The government has made it clear that the list of affected areas would be known only after the PFR is completed. If the project is workable, the full extent of land to be acquired would be known only when the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is prepared.

An older person's hands resting on a closed plain folder on a bamboo bench, with green hills behind.

When would compensation be decided?

Not final yet. The government has assured that the land compensation value and resettlement plan would be finalised at the DPR stage, with public consultations. By law, if the project goes ahead, resettlement and rehabilitation must be completed at least six months before any land is submerged.

Photo of a speaker addressing a large seated audience at a public meeting in a hall.

Will people be consulted?

Yes, by law, if the project moves past the PFR. The government has made it clear that public consultations are required under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and the Gram Sabha and Panchayat must take part in the study of effects on people.

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