Arunachal Youth Body Demands Police Withdrawal From Siang Dam Protest Areas

Troop Withdrawal

A tribal youth group in Arunachal Pradesh wants the government to remove Central Armed Police Forces and State Police units from the Siang river belt. The All Adi Youth Association issued this demand after recent clashes between locals and security personnel in the Siang and Upper Siang districts. These protests erupted over pre-feasibility studies for a massive upcoming hydropower plant.

Project Disputes

Secretary Okut Taki spoke to reporters in Itanagar to condemn the heavy security presence and disputed the Bharatiya Janata Party government's assertion that most affected families support the pre-feasibility work. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited is pushing the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project to produce at least 11,000 MW of power. Leaders from the Centre and State maintain this installation is needed to counter a 60,000 MW station that China is constructing upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, which enters India as the Siang before feeding into the Brahmaputra.

Community Concerns

Mr. Taki stated that heavy policing fails to resolve disagreements, noting that the Adi community traditionally settles matters through local bodies like the Kebang. He also claimed that government memorandums signed with certain villagers ignored the true stance of all 27 affected villages, alleging that officials held closed-door consent meetings away from the actual settlements. Along with troop withdrawal, the group demanded the reversal of suspended village chiefs who joined the anti-dam demonstrations, which protestors warn will devastate local forests and wildlife habitats.

Context

Large-scale infrastructure projects in remote Himalayan border regions often spark intense local pushback over land rights and environmental damage. At the same time, governments frequently treat such projects as vital national assets for regional security and energy needs.