Siang water becoming muddy and black beyond McMahon line is being ascertained: Kiren Rijiju

The cause of Siang water turning muddy and black beyond the McMahon line is being ascertained, Union Minister of State in Ministry of Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju said on Friday.

Siang originates in Tibetan glacier and flows in Arunachal Pradesh, the river meets Brahmaputra in Sadiya in Assam.

Rijiju in tweets stated, "Why are some people burning my effigy in Assam? Brahmaputra (Siang) is a sacred river for us. We will inform & make official statement only after getting accurate information of the cause from across the border."

He further said that the Government of India has been continuously tracking & assessing the Siang (Brahmaputra) river's flowing pattern. The concerns of the people are genuine.

Earlier, Assam health minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had expressed concern over the water of Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh getting muddy.

Locals have alleged that water has become muddy for there might some construction activity in upstream in China.

The East Siang Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department has stated that Siang water is high on iron content.

Following the water sample collected in November 27 last, the report by Executive Engineer Bimal Welly stated that Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU), caused by concentration of suspended or dissolved particulate materials in water is 425 NTU, whereas the permissible range is 0-5 NTU. NTU is very high and if exposed for a long period of time, may affect aquatic lives".