The volatile situation in Arunachal Pradesh due to sustained protests by local people against a proposed mega-dam is becoming unmanageable for the authorities in the frontier state bordering China. Additional central security personnel have been deployed to assist local police to bring the situation under control and avert law and order problems. There have been reports of arson, vandalism, and clashes between protestors and police. The protests are being led by non-political organisations such as the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum and the Adi Bane Kebang, an apex traditional and socio-cultural community organisation of the indigenous ethnic group Adi. GenZ youth are spearheading the protests against the project, which will submerge ancestral lands in 27 villages, displace over 100,000 indigenous tribals, and could cause irreparable ecological damage in a seismically active, biodiverse Himalayan region.

The government has been contemplating the construction of the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) as a strategic response to China’s proposed Medog mega hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, which becomes the Siang River on entering India, the main constituent of the Brahmaputra River. The SUMP project, a hydroelectric and storage dam, would also help control perennial floods and safeguard water security. Recently, the state government kicked off the project by initiating survey work for the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR), a mandatory exercise to get environmental clearance, which assesses the project’s viability, scale, and potential environmental footprint.

It is evident that there is a communication gap and trust deficit between the government and local people. The protestors have alleged that the government tricked them into signing documents allowing the PFR. Chief Minister Pema Khandu intervened by adopting a conciliatory tone. The former Congress leader who joined the BJP is a seasoned politician who has been at the helm for over a decade. While reiterating that people have the right to protest in a democracy, he condemned the ensuing violence. He urged the protestors to come to the negotiating table, which is in stark contrast to the stance of the BJP-led NDA government towards the Jantar Mantar 2.0 protests in New Delhi.

The Indian government’s concerns about downstream water security, flood risks, and strategic vulnerability are valid, but it appears averse to engaging with local people and allaying their fears. It had ample time to present detailed solutions and get them on board through consultation. Instead, it allowed its supporters to castigate and demonise genuine protests as externally instigated. When infuriated, educated, and politically aware youth and women took to the streets, the government resorted to repressive measures, including arrests under the draconian UAPA. Delegitimising genuine democratic grievances in a sensitive border state could have grave repercussions, especially in the context of continuing face-offs with Chinese troops at multiple points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Without getting into the development versus environment binary, it is possible to build better dams. The problem lies in the myopic vision and top-down, authoritarian mindset of political leadership and bureaucracy that prioritises short-term gains over long-term sustainability and views public interest and environmental safeguards as annoying formalities and a perfunctory tick-box exercise. Thus, meaningful participation of affected communities combined with system-scale planning and concerted efforts to reduce adverse social and environmental impacts can avert conflicts with citizens.