{"id":58794,"date":"2025-01-31T00:06:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T00:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/anthropology\/hydropower-dam-threatens-livelihoods-in-northeast-india-sapiens\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T00:06:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T00:06:02","slug":"hydropower-dam-threatens-livelihoods-in-northeast-india-sapiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794","title":{"rendered":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>I was surprised. Why would anyone only go in the river when the current is so fast it can upturn a boat?<\/p>\n<p>Bimal took out a piece of <em>paan <\/em>(betel leaf), applied some <em>chun <\/em>(limestone paste) on it, and wrapped it around a piece of <em>tamul<\/em> (areca nut). Tamul is addictive and well-known for its narcotic effects. However, people across Northeast India rely on the stimulant to stay awake during long hours at work. In Assamese society, <em>tamul-paan <\/em>holds great cultural significance and is offered to people as a sign of respect. I had one already in my mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor logwood,\u201d Bimal explained. With a mouthful of tamul, he added, \u201cYou will see everything today.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading__1\">WHEN WATER IS MONEY<\/h2>\n<p>Ratan owns a homemade wooden boat equipped with an engine. He rides the Subansiri\u2019s fast currents to catch the tree logs that float downriver during heavy rains, then sells them. The steady flow of cash allows him to look after his family of six.<\/p>\n<p>Ratan stands in opposition to the very masculine idea of loggers in North America. He is a short man with a smile always stuck on his face. Catching logs for almost a decade, he knows the river like the back of his hand. He tells me the monsoon season, which lasts from May to September, is his most productive because the high, fast-flowing water carries more logs than the rest of the year. That\u2019s why more water becomes more money for logwood catchers, as Bimal told me earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Bimal\u2019s livelihood as a buffalo milk seller also depends on the seasonal changes of the river. Monsoon rains water the grasses that nourish his livestock. With their bellies full, buffalos produce the most milk during this season.<\/p>\n<p>Ratan and Bimal are just two of a large number of people living downstream of SLHEP who are dependent on the river\u2019s flows for their livelihoods. They, like most downstream residents, belong to one of several <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-multiple-faces-of-inequality-in-india-182074\">socio-economically marginalized groups<\/a>, which the <a href=\"https:\/\/dopt.gov.in\/sites\/default\/files\/ch-11.pdf\">Indian government designates<\/a> as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was surprised. Why would anyone only go in the river when the current is so fast it can upturn a boat? Bimal took out a piece of paan (betel leaf), applied some chun (limestone paste) on it, and wrapped it around a piece of tamul (areca nut). Tamul is addictive and well-known for its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11767],"tags":[13717,2993,17377,27296,8707,33044,21610,1783,16132,3912,25404,638],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-58794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","tag-dam","tag-development","tag-environment","tag-hydropower","tag-india","tag-livelihoods","tag-northeast","tag-power","tag-sapiens","tag-technology","tag-threatens","tag-water"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was surprised. Why would anyone only go in the river when the current is so fast it can upturn a boat? Bimal took out a piece of paan (betel leaf), applied some chun (limestone paste) on it, and wrapped it around a piece of tamul (areca nut). Tamul is addictive and well-known for its [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1079\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"DAM\",\"Development\",\"Environment\",\"hydropower\",\"India\",\"Livelihoods\",\"Northeast\",\"Power\",\"SAPIENS\",\"Technology\",\"Threatens\",\"water\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Anthropology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\",\"name\":\"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1079},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","og_description":"I was surprised. Why would anyone only go in the river when the current is so fast it can upturn a boat? Bimal took out a piece of paan (betel leaf), applied some chun (limestone paste) on it, and wrapped it around a piece of tamul (areca nut). Tamul is addictive and well-known for its [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":1079,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS","datePublished":"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794"},"wordCount":355,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg","keywords":["DAM","Development","Environment","hydropower","India","Livelihoods","Northeast","Power","SAPIENS","Technology","Threatens","water"],"articleSection":["Anthropology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794","name":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-01-31T00:06:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/05-3-buffalo-heading-to-Chapori-e1738162050135-1280x1079.jpeg","width":1280,"height":1079},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=58794#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hydropower Dam Threatens Livelihoods in Northeast India \u2013 SAPIENS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58794"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=58794"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=58794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}