Protests against the proposed 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project intensify as community groups demand the release of detained residents and a halt to survey work
Itanagar: Normal life has been severely disrupted in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district and parts of the Siang belt following a mobile internet suspension and a 36-hour bandh over the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
The shutdown, which began early Monday, November 2, was called by the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum (SIFF), the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association (SAAYA), student bodies and other community organisations. Protesters are demanding the unconditional release of residents and activists detained during recent demonstrations, along with an immediate halt to pre-feasibility studies and survey activities for the project.
Commercial establishments remained closed, public transport stayed off the roads and security was tightened across the affected areas. Authorities suspended mobile data services amid rising tensions to maintain public order.
The proposed 11,000–11,200 MW project by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has faced sustained opposition from indigenous communities, particularly in the Adi-inhabited Siang belt.
While the project is viewed as strategically significant for India’s energy security, local communities fear that it could submerge ancestral villages, displace residents and cause irreversible environmental damage to the region’s fragile ecology.
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