Conflicting accounts of clashes linked to the proposed 11,000-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh have intensified tensions between project-affected communities and the state administration, with a farmers’ forum claiming 67 injuries while police have reported injuries to more than eight security personnel and five arrests.
The violence occurred at Uggeng in Siang district on October 4 during continuing opposition to the pre-feasibility report exercise for the proposed multipurpose project on the Siang river. The project-affected communities have demanded an immediate halt to survey-related activities, while the state government has maintained that the exercise is only an initial assessment and does not amount to a decision to construct the dam.
In a report issued by its general secretary Likeng Libang, the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum claimed that 52 people were injured at Riga and another 15 at Pangkang during the confrontation. It said 31 people suffered major injuries and 36 sustained minor injuries. The forum also alleged that eight vehicles belonging to project-affected families were badly damaged, including four pick-up vehicles at Riga and four cars or pick-up vehicles at Pangkang.
SIFF separately claimed that seven project-affected people from Riew and Begging villages were injured in another incident near the Siang bridge at Dite Dime. According to the forum, five of those injured were from Riew and two from Begging. One person was said to have suffered major injuries, while six sustained minor injuries.
The claims could not be independently verified from the material supplied for this report. Siang police had said a day earlier that more than eight security personnel were injured in the clashes and that five people, including two women, had been arrested. An official response from the district administration or police to the farmers’ forum’s injury and vehicle-damage claims was awaited.
The dispute has widened beyond the immediate confrontation to questions about how the project’s pre-feasibility exercise is being conducted and whether affected communities have been adequately consulted. The All Adi Youth Association Apex condemned the clashes and called on the state government to open a dialogue with residents of the 27 affected villages.
Speaking to mediapersons at the Arunachal Press Club in Itanagar, AAYA IPR secretary Okut Tali alleged that the government had deployed additional security forces instead of engaging with residents. He also alleged that several gaon buras and gaon buris had been suspended for participating in the protests and that first information reports had been filed against several people. These allegations were attributed to Tali in the source report and were not independently verified.
Tali said community discussions were important before major decisions in the tribal society and questioned whether agreements or memorandums of understanding cited in relation to the pre-feasibility exercise reflected the position of all affected communities. He also urged the administration to revoke the alleged suspensions and withdraw the cases.
The government has linked the proposed project to national security concerns, according to the source report. Tali said officials should visit the affected villages and explain those concerns directly to residents. The source report did not include a detailed response from the state government on the association’s allegations or on the status of the alleged agreements and memorandums.
The immediate administrative challenge is therefore twofold: establishing what happened during the October 4 clashes and creating a credible process for engagement with communities affected by the proposed survey and project. Until the competing injury accounts and other allegations are independently confirmed, the scale and circumstances of the violence remain disputed.
The next confirmed developments will depend on responses from the district administration and police, including clarification of the injury figures, arrests, alleged vehicle damage and the status of the pre-feasibility report exercise in the affected villages.
