Siang Upper Multipurpose Project: Why the Adi Community Is Resisting the Mega Dam
The Adi tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh continues to protest against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a giant dam planned on the Siang river (the Brahmaputra's name when it enters India) by NHPC Limited, the Centre-owned hydropower company.
The project is still at the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) stage, where engineers survey and drill at possible dam sites. The state government has identified three possible sites; one of them is near Parong village in Siang district.
At Parong, the road down to the river is guarded by state police barricades and a checkpost of Central security forces, who stop anyone without "clearance" from going to the river.
The community says the dam would affect at least 40 villages and fully submerge 27 of them, destroying land, livelihoods and their way of life.
Community members allege that the state government used pressure, threats and misleading methods to get villages to agree to the feasibility study. The protests have turned violent, as the use of force by authorities has increased.
Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP): India's Storage Dam on the Siang
The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project is a very large dam proposed on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh. The Siang is the name of the Yarlung Tsangpo of Tibet after it enters India; downstream in Assam it becomes the Brahmaputra. The project is called "multipurpose" because it aims to make electricity, control floods and store water. If built, it would be India's largest hydropower project.
The protests at Parong and other sites are about the very first stage of SUMP, the pre-feasibility survey. Without local cooperation, NHPC cannot complete drilling, so the project's future depends on winning the trust of the people of the valley.
Adi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh
The Adi are one of the largest tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh. They live mainly in the valleys of the Siang river and its tributaries, in districts such as East Siang, Upper Siang, Siang and West Siang. They speak languages of the Tani group. They are known for their village councils called Kebang and their nature-based faith, Donyi-Polo (worship of the Sun and the Moon).
For the Adi, the Siang river, its forests and ancestral land are part of their identity, festivals and livelihood. The fear that 27 villages could be submerged explains why the protest is framed as a threat to their homeland and civilisation, not only to property.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
Free, Prior and Informed Consent is the idea that indigenous and tribal communities have the right to say "yes" or "no" to a project that affects their land, water, forests or way of life. The consent must be free (without pressure or threats), prior (before decisions are final) and informed (after full, honest information in a language they understand). It is a key principle in international law on indigenous peoples.
The Adi allegation that agreement to the feasibility study was obtained through pressure and threats goes to the heart of FPIC. Consent given under police deployment or fear is not "free", which is why the method of getting village approval has become as contested as the dam itself.
- Project: Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), NHPC Limited, Arunachal Pradesh
- Planned capacity about 11,000 to 11,200 MW; storage about 9 billion cubic metres; height about 280 to 300 m
- Stage: Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR); three proposed sites, including Parong in Siang district
- Community claim: at least 40 villages affected, 27 to be submerged
- Affected community: Adi (Scheduled Tribe), Siang valley
- River names: Yarlung Tsangpo (Tibet) → Siang/Dihang (Arunachal) → Brahmaputra (Assam, after meeting the Dibang and Lohit)
- China's lower Yarlung Tsangpo (Medog) project approved December 2024