Siang dam protest turns violent as mob torches NHPC office and police station in Arunachal

A mob torched an NHPC office and a police station and vandalised the homes of two political leaders, including Arunachal Pradesh BJP president Kaling Moyong, in East Siang district late on Friday. The violence came hours after a bandh against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) ended.

Several police personnel were injured after protesters allegedly pelted them with stones in Pasighat, a senior officer said on Saturday.

Pasighat Deputy Superintendent of Police Tony Tatak said the incident took place around 11 pm, after the 12-hour shutdown was over. He said the NHPC office in the high region area of Pasighat was set on fire and a police station in the same area was also torched. The authorities are assessing the extent of the damage, he said.


The crowd also vandalised the residence of Pasighat West MLA Ninong Ering, besides that of Moyong, who is a former MLA. The office of the Adi Bane Kebang, the apex body of the Adi community, was ransacked too. Tatak, who was himself injured, said the protesters had come from the Mebo area.

The bandh covered Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts. In Siang district, protesters clashed with the police, and security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse them. Officials said 150 to 200 protesters, allegedly armed with machetes, lathis and slingshots, tried to vandalise police vehicles and breach barricades before pelting security personnel with stones. In East Siang, clashes were also reported near Ranaghat Bridge in Mebo, where protesters allegedly hurled stones at the police.

The shutdown was jointly called by the Adi Bane Kebang United, the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association, the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum Youth Wing and the Adi Galo Welfare Society. The organisations are demanding the release of 10 arrested activists, the reinstatement of suspended gaon buras (village headmen), the withdrawal of all pre-feasibility activities related to the project, and the removal of paramilitary and central forces deployed in the region.

The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee strongly condemned the violence. It also demanded an independent inquiry into the use of tear gas shells against protesters during the bandh.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has urged people to be careful about unverified rumours, misleading claims and fake news on the project. It asked the public to rely on official notifications, press releases and authorised channels for accurate information.

Sections of the local people have opposed the project, citing concerns over its impact on the Siang river basin and indigenous communities. The state government has said the project is mainly meant to store and regulate water in the Siang basin, particularly in view of China’s proposed mega dam on the river. It said the project would also strengthen national water and energy security, help manage seasonal floods in the Siang-Brahmaputra basin and support long-term socio-economic growth.

The government clarified that the work now underway is limited to technical and environmental surveys for preparing the pre-feasibility report (PFR) to assess whether the project is viable. Its advisory said the welfare, rights, land security and cultural heritage of local communities and project-affected families remain central to its evaluations.

(With inputs from PTI)