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Chinas ongoing construction of a $167.8 billion, 60,000 MW mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet has pushed India to fast-track its 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Social media carried louder claims. Officialdom stayed quiet. That silence broke when Shatrujeet Kapur, Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, told an annual ceremony honouring his personnel that Indian and Chinese soldiers have been locked in tense face-offs at several points in Arunachal Pradesh since July, and that the stand-off was still on.

Handshakes in Delhi, face-offs in the heights: The new friction in Arunachal

The clarification came amid a political row over reported remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapoor about continuing face-offs with the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in Arunachal Pradesh.

MEA says Chinese patrolling deviations disrupt border amid PLA face-off in Arunachal

The paramilitary force may issue an official statement on the matter soon.

‘No specific incident’: ITBP chief’s remarks reflect routine preparedness, deployment

How China’s 60,000-MW Yarlung Tsangpo project forced a political U-turn in Arunachal Pradesh, leading to violent anti-dam protests and detentions among indigenous Adi tribes in the Siang Valley.

China’s mega-dam and Arunachal’s political U-turn: Why Siang valley is up in arms again

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latest news on Arunachal Pradesh trending stories news, videos, photos on Arunachal Pradesh| Zee News

Arunachal Pradesh: Latest News, Trending topics videos, photos | Zee News English

<p>The construction of a gigantic 60,000 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam project in Tibet by China has raised several security and environmental issues for India downstream. India plans the 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) in Arunachal Pradesh to defend against any water manipulation or flooding by Chinese authorities. This project can accommodate up to 9.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of the river water.</p><h2><strong>China's $167B mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo</strong></h2><p>Construction of the Yarlung Tsangpo mega-dam project started in the lower reaches of the river in Tibet on July 19, 2025, involving an expenditure of about 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.8 billion).</p><p><strong>Capacity</strong>: The five stages of this dam project have a combined electricity generation capacity of 60,000 MW, which is more than twice the production capacity of the Three Gorges Dam.</p><p><strong>Downstream impact</strong>: The Yarlung Tsangpo directly drains into India after changing its name to the Siang River and joins the Brahmaputra in Assam.</p><p><strong>India's biggest fear</strong>: Water impoundment unilaterally by Beijing in drought months or release in huge volumes in monsoon months can create serious flooding threats for Northeast India.</p><h2><strong>Defence strategy of India: Siang upper multipurpose project</strong></h2><p>The Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Chowna Mein, stressed that the proposed Siang Storage Dam is specifically designed as a hydro-buffer against any disruption from upstream areas.</p><p><strong>Storage capacity</strong>: The proposed 280- to 300-meter-high Siang Storage Dam would have the ability to store 9.2 billion cubic meters of water.</p><p><strong>Regulating flow</strong>: The proposed reservoir project would help regulate the flow of water by storing excess flow coming from Tibet and releasing consistent flows during the winter season.</p><h2><strong>Delays in approval and local ecological Opposition</strong></h2><p>Despite being a crucial project for India, the Siang Dam project is at its initial stage and needs clearance before its execution.</p><p>The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, said that the Preliminary Feasibility Report (PFR) of the project will help determine if the selected location is geologically and ecologically feasible or not. Local indigenous tribes have expressed opposition to the plan by saying that they would be displaced and their ancestral lands and forests would be submerged.</p><p>Whether India's 9.2 bcm reservoir can fully neutralise a 60,000 MW mega-structure upstream depends on final engineering specs and actual operational protocols adopted by Beijing.</p><p> </p>

<p><strong>By Girish Linganna</strong></p><div dir="auto">For months, villagers in the high valleys of Arunachal Pradesh whispered that their herders could no longer walk the old grazing paths near the border. Social media carried louder claims. Officialdom stayed quiet. That silence broke when Shatrujeet Kapur, Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, told an annual ceremony honouring his personnel that Indian and Chinese soldiers have been locked in tense face-offs at several points in Arunachal Pradesh since July, and that the stand-off was still on. It was the first time anyone in authority had confirmed it.</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">The trouble began around Taksing, a remote pocket close to Tibet. Reports said People's Liberation Army troops were blocking Indian patrols from reaching their patrolling points, the fixed spots soldiers walk to regularly to show the land is theirs, along the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, the unofficial border marking where each side currently stands because the two countries have never agreed on a formal boundary. The timing is awkward. The confrontations evidently continued even while Chinese President Xi Jinping was in New Delhi for the September BRICS Summit, a gathering of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and even as top Army generals from both sides held their first formal peace meeting in the Arunachal sector.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">Kapur, however, chose to speak of pride rather than alarm. He singled out the newly raised Shaurya commandos, an elite ITBP unit trained to fight at heights where the air is so thin that every breath is an effort and ordinary soldiers tire within minutes, for holding their ground admirably. He reminded listeners that the ITBP, born in 1962 in the shadow of war, was conceived as a mountain-fighting force working in small teams with surprise moves, and was handed the entire 3,488-km China frontier only in 2004. That frontier, he admitted, remains its hardest posting. Every border unit now has a drone team, underground shelters are being dug, and a new course called Strike, which teaches soldiers to survive and win the kind of hand-to-hand brawl seen at Galwan, will cover every ITBP member by the end of 2027.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">Galwan is the memory behind all this. In June 2020, in Ladakh, Chinese troops attacked Indian soldiers with stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs. Twenty Indian soldiers died. China admitted to four of its own, though many accounts put its losses far higher.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">Kapur also spoke bluntly about drones, calling them both a danger and a gift. Matching China weapon for weapon is hard because Beijing has spent lavishly modernising the PLA. But a drone the size of a suitcase lets even a small country trouble a giant; it can watch enemy movements, collect intelligence and strike. India, he said, must use far more drones and far more anti-drone systems, the devices that spot, jam or shoot down hostile machines.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">A serious shield works in layers, like a house with a boundary wall, a locked gate and an alarm. First, radars, special cameras and electronic sensors to catch drones too small for the eye. Second, jammers that scramble a drone's radio link and interceptors that physically stop it. Third, artificial intelligence that tells a drone from a bird and warns troops faster. Fourth, Indian-made drones and counter-drone gear, so spare parts never depend on a foreign supplier during a crisis. Fifth, routine training so soldiers know when to take cover and whom to call. Sixth, hardened shelters and early warning for posts, ammunition dumps and communication hubs. Seventh, reliable communication across deep valleys and brutal weather. Eighth, DRDO, research institutes and private firms building affordable kit that survives extreme cold and altitude. No single tool suffices, because some newer drones do not need constant radio signals, so ordinary jammers cannot stop them.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">The politics has been fierce. In July a team from the People's Party of Arunachal, which has two MLAs, reported the Taksing blockade and rising Chinese activity in Upper Subansiri district. The government rejected the claims and reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is and will remain an inseparable part of India. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told India Today that China had seized no new ground, while acknowledging that local worries over lost grazing access were genuine. Congress demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. On X, Jairam Ramesh mockingly called Modi "Vishwaguru" (world teacher), accused him of calculated compromises with China, asked what the September generals' talks had achieved, and pointed to Ladakh-style loss of patrolling points, Beijing's renaming of Arunachal towns, and a 60,000 MW Chinese dam he said threatens India's water security.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="auto">Official sources counter that no land is quietly changing hands. They recall that China, which calls Tibet Xizang and Arunachal Zangnan or South Tibet, claimed some 69,000 sq km during the 1960 boundary talks; that it attacked an Assam Rifles post at Longju in 1959 and has held and built upon that patch since; and that its 1962 offensives through Kameng, Subansiri, Siyom, Siang and Lohit ended with the PLA pulling back north of the LAC. Better roads now let Indian patrols go further, which is partly why soldiers meet more often, and such meetings, the sources insist, are usually settled through the existing border agreements and talks between officials. Last week India answered China's naming game by placing 27 Arunachal mountains, rivers and landmarks on its official map under their Indian names.\</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">Doklam and eastern Ladakh taught the country that these contests are long and lonely for the men who stand in them. Relations with Beijing have warmed of late. Whether that warmth reaches the frozen patrol tracks of Taksing is the question every family with a son on that line is quietly asking.</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div data-index="16"><div><p><em style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:inherit;font-optical-sizing:auto;font-style:normal;line-height:1.5;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><strong>(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a defence, aerospace and geopolitical analyst. He is the managing director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd.)</strong></em></p></div></div>

<p><span>The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said the situation along the India-China border gets disturbed when Chinese forces deviate from established patrolling patterns, stressing that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.</span></p><p><span>The clarification came amid a political row over reported remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapoor about continuing face-offs with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Arunachal Pradesh. The Congress has questioned the government's handling of the situation and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi address Parliament on the issue.</span></p><p><span>At a regular media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that questions about the specific developments should be directed to the Ministry of Defence. He added that India and China continued to rely on established diplomatic and military channels to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings along the LAC.</span></p><p><span>"Insofar as the specifics are concerned, I would refer you to the Ministry of Defence. As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns. Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control," Jaiswal said.</span></p><p><span>"The two sides have also agreed to discuss ways to improve understanding of LAC in appropriate areas for better border management. I would also like to emphasise that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations," he added.</span></p><h2><span><strong>Kharge Questions Government Over Reported Face-Offs In Arunachal</strong></span></h2><p><span>Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the reported continuing face-offs in Arunachal Pradesh as deeply alarming and sought answers from the Prime Minister over the situation along the border.</span></p><p><span>Referring to the Doklam and Galwan episodes, Kharge questioned whether another serious confrontation was unfolding. He also cited reports of Chinese incursions near Taksing in August and raised concerns about continued confrontations despite Corps Commander-level talks at Wacha–Damai.</span></p><p><span>"The ITBP DG's confirmation of continuing PLA face-offs in Arunachal Pradesh is deeply alarming. After Doklam and Galwan, is another serious confrontation unfolding? Reports of Chinese incursions near Taksing emerged in August. Yet, even 47 days after Corps Commander-level talks at Wacha–Damai, reportedly just 180 km away, confrontations continue. Has India's patrolling access been compromised? Arunachal Pradesh is an inseparable part of India. Why is the nation being kept in the dark?" Kharge said.</span></p><p><span>The Congress chief also questioned the outcome of repeated diplomatic engagements between India and China, citing at least 23 reported meetings and interactions between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, 25 rounds of Special Representatives' talks involving National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, 36 meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), and discussions at successive SCO and BRICS summits.</span></p><p><span>"What tangible results have these engagements delivered? Have India's pre-May 2020 patrolling rights been fully restored? Our Armed Forces have our complete confidence. But national security demands accountability, not diplomatic photo opportunities and Hugplomacy! Instead of attacking the Opposition, PM Modi must take Parliament and the Nation into confidence," Kharge said.</span></p><p><span>He called on the Prime Minister to address Parliament and explain the government's position on the reported border developments.</span></p><h2><span><strong>India, China Agree To Address Border Issues Through Existing Channels</strong></span></h2><p><span>The MEA's remarks come as India and China continue diplomatic efforts to manage tensions along the LAC and prevent further misunderstandings.</span></p><p><span>On August 25, the two countries held the 25th round of talks between their Special Representatives on the boundary question in Beijing. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to follow the guidance of their respective leaders, maintain peace and tranquillity along the border and create conditions for the steady development of bilateral relations.</span></p><p><span>They also reiterated their commitment to negotiations on a framework for settling the boundary question in line with the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question.</span></p><p><span>The two sides agreed to pursue a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution and address ground-level situations promptly through existing diplomatic and military channels. These include the WMCC, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms aimed at resolving outstanding issues and avoiding misunderstandings or miscalculations along the LAC.</span></p><h2><span><strong>MEA Reiterates India's Position On Ladakh</strong></span></h2><p><span>Separately, the MEA last week reiterated that the Union Territory of Ladakh is an "integral and inalienable part of India", stating that no denial by China could change this established fact.</span></p><p><span>The statement followed objections by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on October 13 to India's decision to identify 28 places and geographical features in Ladakh using standard names on the official Survey of India map. Beijing described the move as "illegal and void".</span></p><p><span>The MEA referred to a Ministry of Home Affairs announcement stating that the locations had been identified in consultation with the Ladakh administration and local stakeholders. The exercise aims to ensure accurate recognition of the places and improve public awareness of their geographical locations.</span></p><p><span>Earlier this month, the Centre announced the identification of the 28 places and features on the official map.</span></p><h2><span><strong>Jaishankar Says Border Situation Will Shape Future Of India-China Ties</strong></span></h2><p><span>In September, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said relations between India and China had improved from the lows reached during the prolonged border stand-off, but cautioned that the situation along the frontier would remain a key factor in determining the extent to which ties could be normalised.</span></p><p><span>During his visit to New York, Jaishankar said bilateral relations were in a better position than in 2025 and had improved further compared with 2024. However, he warned against viewing the recovery as a fundamental shift in the relationship.</span></p><p><span>"I don't think it's structural change so much as a recovery from how far ties had deteriorated," he said.</span></p><p><span>The 2020 border developments and the prolonged stand-off had severely affected normal contact between the two countries. While trade continued, official exchanges, visa services and flights were disrupted. As tensions eased, some of these contacts gradually resumed.</span></p><p><span>Jaishankar described the improvement as a result of stabilisation rather than proof that the underlying differences had been resolved.</span></p><p><span>"A dip in our relationship actually doesn't help either of us," he said, adding that third parties could benefit from strained ties between the two countries.</span></p><p><span>In September, Modi met Xi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The two leaders stressed that "differences should not become disputes" and reaffirmed the need to take a strategic and long-term view of bilateral relations.</span></p><p><span>During the meeting, Modi underlined that peace and tranquillity in the border areas remained essential for the continued development of ties between India and China.</span></p><p><span><strong>(With agencies' inputs)</strong></span></p>

MEA says Chinese patrolling deviations disrupt border amid Arunachal face-off row

<div><span>Remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur about the situation along the China border relate to routine operational preparedness and troop deployment, sources said, amid a commotion over his comments. They stressed that the remarks were not linked to any specific incident.</span></div><div><span>The ITBP, which guards India’s border with China, operates in accordance with government policies, instructions issued under different circumstances and established standard operating procedures, the sources said.</span></div><div><span>The paramilitary force may issue an official statement on the matter soon.</span></div><h3><span>ITBP chief reports face-offs in Arunachal Pradesh</span></h3><div><span>Kapur said on Thursday that face-offs with Chinese troops had occurred at several locations along the border in Arunachal Pradesh in recent days and that the situation was continuing.</span></div><div> </div><div><span>“In the past few days, a situation arose where face-offs happened at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, and it still continues,” Kapur told ITBP personnel at a force base in Alwar, Rajasthan.</span></div><div><span>The ITBP chief, who is due to retire at the end of this month, also highlighted the formation of a new combat unit, the Shaurya Commandos. He said the personnel had demonstrated their capabilities during the ongoing face-offs with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops at multiple locations in Arunachal Pradesh.</span></div><div> </div><div><span>Kapur said the commandos would be deployed in every border battalion, strengthening the force’s operational capabilities and giving it a distinct identity.</span></div><h3><span>ITBP guards 3,488-km India-China border</span></h3><div><span>Established in 1962, the ITBP is responsible for guarding the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. The force plays a key role in securing the Himalayan frontier, where difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions pose significant operational challenges.</span></div><div> </div><div><span>Kapur’s remarks come as India and China continue efforts to stabilise bilateral relations following years of military tensions along the LAC.</span></div><div> </div><div><span>Last month, Chief of Defence Staff General N.S. Raja Subramani said at the NDTV Defence Summit that the situation along the border was stable and there was no cause for concern.</span></div><div> </div><div><span>External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also stressed last week that maintaining peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential to normalising relations between the two countries. He cautioned that any disruption along the frontier would have consequences for bilateral ties.</span></div><h3><span>India-China relations after Ladakh standoff</span></h3><div><span>India and China have been working to rebuild relations since reaching an understanding in October 2024 to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. The confrontation had continued for more than four years and severely strained ties between the two countries.</span></div><div><span>Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India on September 12–13 to attend the BRICS Summit, marking his first visit to the country in seven years. He also held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review relations and discuss ways to improve cooperation.</span></div><div><span>(with IANS inputs)</span></div>

‘No specific incident’: ITBP chief’s remarks reflect routine preparedness, deploymen

<p><span><strong>Itanagar:</strong> A proposed 11,200-MW dam project in Arunachal Pradesh has set off a fierce standoff in the Siang Valley. Local Adi tribes are blocking security forces and survey teams over fears that the mega-dam will submerge their lands, homes and ancestral livelihoods.</span></p><p><span>The protests have intensified in recent weeks over the issue that has divided Arunachal Pradesh for years. On October 10, four residents were detained under the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2014. It led to demonstrations in Geku, in Upper Siang district, with protesters demanding their release. The youth wing of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) also called for a boycott of government consultations on the project. </span></p><p><span>The state administration has cited his alleged involvement in violence, arson and damage to public and private property while defending the preventive detention orders. The dispute had turned violent in late September, during Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s visit to the region.</span></p><p><span>Protesters attacked a local MLA’s residence and set a police vehicle on fire. Clashes broke out again on October 4, following claims that protesters set fires and security personnel used excessive force.</span></p><p><span>The deployment of security forces to facilitate survey work has become a major point of contention. Residents have opposed the movement of machinery and personnel into the affected area, arguing that the process is proceeding without their consent. </span></p><p><span>The government’s effort to prepare a pre-feasibility report has therefore become the immediate test of whether officials can carry out fieldwork while addressing the objections of the people living around the proposed site. </span></p><p><span>Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, called for talks with senior members of the Adi community on October 8. “If we sit down and talk, technically, everything will be clear. We have to talk. We have to move forward,” he said.</span></p><h2><span><strong>A dam project that has divided parties across govts</strong></span></h2><p><span>The Siang dispute has crossed several governments and political eras. In August 2010, Ojing Tasing, then chairman of the Siang Peoples’ Forum and a prominent opponent of large dams, met the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi to seek the scrapping of hydropower projects in the river basin. The meeting followed a police raid at his residence in Itanagar.</span></p><p><span>He later wrote to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the objections raised during a public consultation in Guwahati. Some groups, he said, argued that Arunachal Pradesh should not become “a pawn in the race between India and China”.</span></p><p><span>Opposition to large dams also found an ally in BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay. In May 2012, he challenged the suggestion that people opposing projects might be acting at China’s behest. </span></p><p><span>“If people from China are indeed instigating an agitation… the government has an even greater responsibility to send a Union minister to speak to those people,” he told the Rajya Sabha.</span></p><p><span>Campaigning in Pasighat in February 2014, before becoming prime minister, Narendra Modi acknowledged local opposition to large dams and favoured smaller hydropower projects that would protect the environment.</span></p><p><span>Political leaders have since changed their stand on the Siang project. Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Bosiram Siram argued in a memorandum submitted in July that China’s upstream projects should not take precedence over the free, prior and informed consent of tribal communities. </span></p><p><span>In September, Indian Youth Congress National General Secretary Tarh Johny called the state and central governments’ approach “dictatorship” and demanded transparency and meaningful consultation.</span></p><p><span>Khandu, whose BJP government now backs the project, said on September 21 that he had instructed the chief secretary to take action against government employees opposing it.</span></p><p><span>Tasing has also moved to the other side of the debate. Now Arunachal Pradesh’s rural development and Panchayati Raj minister and a close ally of CM Khandu, he has defended the dam on strategic grounds. “If we don’t construct our dam, what will be the impact on us if China uses its dam as a water bomb on India?” he said.</span></p><h2><span><strong>China’s dam plans upend regional security</strong></span></h2><p><span>The project’s supporters cite China’s plans for the Yarlung Tsangpo, the name given to the Siang upstream in Tibet. India first proposed harnessing the Siang and Subansiri rivers in 1982, before Brijig’s plans became the defining strategic argument in the debate.</span></p><p><span>In 2002, India and China agreed on a system for Beijing to share hydrological data during the flood season. A year later, the Union government launched a national initiative to develop 50,000 MW of hydropower, with around 27,000 MW envisaged from Arunachal Pradesh.</span></p><p><span>In 2011, the government informed Parliament about a Chinese run-of-the-river project upstream of the Siang and called for Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to harness the Brahmaputra’s waters. India raised objections to additional Chinese projects in 2013.</span></p><p><span>In 2017, NITI Aayog proposed combining the planned Siang Upper Stage-I and Stage-II projects into one large storage project. That proposal developed into the present 11,200-MW plan. </span></p><p><span>In 2008, the government declared the 9,500-MW Siang Upper project a National Project. A year later, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) split it into two stages of 6,000 MW and 3,750 MW to limit the area that would be submerged.</span></p><p><span>China has prepared plans for a much larger project. Beijing approved a 60,000-MW hydropower project on the lower Yarlung Tsangpo in December 2024. The project comprises five cascade power stations and is intended to use a steep section of the river near the Indian border, where the elevation drops nearly 2,000 metres over 50 km.</span></p><p><span>Indian officials and supporters of the Siang project cite the Chinese development while arguing for greater control over downstream water resources. The possibility of sudden releases and changes in river flows has prompted calls for a large storage facility in Arunachal Pradesh.</span></p><p><span>Experts question whether building a dam would secure India’s position under international water law. Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, argued that international law offered little basis for claiming a “first user right”. He said India should seek details of China’s project and consider a joint assessment of its effects rather than push ahead with a dam against the wishes of local communities.</span></p><h2><span><strong>Dispute begins with land</strong></span></h2><p><span>The project’s possible effects go beyond power generation and water security. The Adi community’s objections relate to the future of villages, agricultural land and a way of life built around the Siang.</span></p><p><span><sub>The Adi community’s objections relate to the future of villages, agricultural land and a way of life sustained by the Siang. A Bogum Bokang Kebang, a supreme council that brings together Adi clans to address major collective issues, is rare. In August 2025, the community held one in Geku after a gap of 25 years. The gathering opposed the proposed dam and the studies being conducted for it.</sub></span></p><p><span>According to the SIFF, the proposed reservoir could submerge 27 villages, affect dozens of others and displace between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh indigenous people. The affected areas include paddy fields, orchards and land used for jhum cultivation, all of which support local livelihoods.</span></p><p><span>The Adi relationship with the land also has a spiritual dimension. The community regards the land as belonging to Abo Tani, its primordial ancestor, and reveres Ane Siang or Mother Siang as a source of cultural identity. Residents who oppose the dam fear displacement would mean losing places and traditions passed down through generations.</span></p><p><span>Fears about the loss of cultural life and the right to make decisions about their future are major reasons behin opposition to large dams. Ecological and seismic risks are also real.</span></p><p><span>The Siang dam row pits India’s strategic interests over China’s hydropower plans against local fears of displacement and loss of control over ancestral land. Decades of opposition and the detention of four residents have made the government’s push for preliminary studies more contentious.</span></p>

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