Arunachal Pradesh Dam Protests Turn Violent as Security Forces Crack Down on Activists

What Happened

Protests against the 11,000-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh turned violent on October 4 when police and paramilitary forces allegedly lathi-charged demonstrators in Uggeng village. Residents of the Siang and Upper Siang districts have opposed the dam for over a year and blocked pre-feasibility study efforts. The police action followed protests where an MLA's house was attacked and vehicles were set on fire during a visit by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

Crackdown on Activists

The state government deployed hundreds of forces to Uggeng and Komkar villages on September 14 to push through the study. On August 20, Central Bureau of Investigation served a notice to Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum legal advisor Bhanu Tatak under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, alleging she received 17.6 lakh rupees in foreign funds to sustain anti-dam protests. Police also issued summons to at least three SIFF protesters between September 19 and 22 under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Social media pages and news broadcasts from the protest sites have been blocked since October 5 under Information Technology rules.

Context

The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project is proposed as a national project to help regulate floods and counter the impacts of a massive Chinese Medog dam planned upstream. However, local residents and indigenous groups point out that the region falls in a high seismic activity zone prone to frequent earthquakes and landslides, raising major safety concerns about building a large dam there.