Communities in India’s China-bordering Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh are resisting plans to build what would be the country’s largest hydroelectric project, complicating efforts to ensure water security amid fractious relations between the neighboring powers. The Upper Siang Multipurpose Project would be a 10-gigawatt facility, equivalent to about one-fifth of India’s entire existing hydropower capacity of 46.85 GW. Beyond providing power, the massive dam and reservoir are intended to offset the potential impact of China’s own plans to dam the same river, which originates in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where it is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo. The 2,900 km river is called Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, Brahmaputra in the Indian state of Assam and Jamuna in Bangladesh.
If China were to divert water, officials say, the reservoir would help India maintain a stable supply. But a campaign to win the understanding of local residents has had a rocky start this year as groups seek to preserve the local environment and heritage. On Jan. 3, the deputy commissioner of the district of Upper Siang in Arunachal Pradesh issued a circular announcing public awareness events at the community halls of four villages in the middle of the month. But on Jan. 7, residents of Gosang and Moying, including elected members of the panchayat (rural self-government council) and tribal leaders, gathered in a field and resolved to boycott the campaign. Residents of the other two villages, Gette and Ramsing, subsequently followed suit.
In letters signed by local leaders, all four villages informed the government of their opposition, and none of the proposed community hall events went ahead. Dungge Apang, one of the signatories of the letter from Ramsing, told Nikkei Asia that back in October, the deputy commissioner of Upper Siang had met with local leaders “and elaborately described the benefits we were going to get.”
“We then and there rejected the proposition and opposed the dam very clearly,” Apang said. “On Dec. 21, the commissioner met us, and it was a repeat of the previous meeting. We clearly know what the government has to say, and we know our answer. There will be no more discussion.” This is not the first time India has sought to build a large hydropower project in Upper Siang, only to face pushback. Protests erupted a decade ago over plans for a 6-GW first stage and 3.7-GW second stage. The project was put on hold in 2015 while officials assessed whether to pursue a single combined project instead, to save costs. After China’s intention to build a 60-GW dam near Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in the India-bordering Medog province of Tibet came to light in late 2020, India resolved to forge ahead.
That was also the year when Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a deadly clash in a disputed border region. Their soldiers engaged in another skirmish at the end of last year in Tawang, in Arunachal Pradesh, which China considers part of Tibet despite New Delhi’s objections. In December 2021, India’s Ministry of Power entrusted state-owned hydropower company NHPC with the task of building the 10-GW project. An NHPC document shows that in February 2022, the company’s then-Chairman and Managing Director Abhay Kumar Singh said, “China is making a very big dam on the Siang River, and the ministry is very serious” about developing the project, right up to the prime minister’s office.
“It is [a] more than 300-meter-high dam. This is a big project we are going for, and the government is very keen.” But Singh also acknowledged the controversial nature of the project and said it would have to be carried out “cautiously.” “We have to convince the local people, because two towns are going to be submerged in that big-size reservoir,” he was quoted as saying.
One of the threatened towns is Yingkiong, Upper Siang’s headquarters, described in a Jan. 19 tweet from the Arunachal government as a tourist destination offering “a unique tribal heritage that draws anthropologists and cultural enthusiasts from all over the world who want to see the area’s captivating cultural diversity.” Nevertheless, a pre-feasibility report was submitted to the Central Electricity Authority in December 2022, with a new design including a storage facility for lean seasons. Arunachal’s deputy chief minister, Chowna Mien, Chief Secretary Dharmendra and the commissioner to the chief minister, Sonam Chombay, did not respond to emails seeking comments on the protests. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one official told Nikkei: “We know there will be resistance. Different villages will be dealt with differently.”
The official revealed one aspect of the government’s strategy. “Very recently, we arranged for a group of over 20 locals [to visit] to two hydropower project sites: the 1-GW Indra Sagar project in central India and the 1-GW Tehri dam in the north Indian Himalayas. Once they return convinced, they will influence more locals.” But some residents may not be easily swayed.
Tasik Pangkam, president of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum, said residents were not aware of the revived plan until the news broke in local media in May 2022. “We called for a meeting that very month, and it was attended by people from 30 villages. The large majority of the gathering opined against the project, and we have resolved to fight it,” said Pangkam. In a letter to the state government authorities on Dec. 21, the forum wrote, “As we have not inherited this land from any government but from great ancestors, we have [the] supreme duty to pass on the same to our next generation.” They listed the geological and ecological fragility of the region, sitting on India’s most-active seismic zone, among the reasons to scrap the project. “We know the government is trying to divide the local people, and we’ll do our best to keep them united in opposition,” Pangkam said.