Arunachal Siang dam protest turns violent: offices torched, 40 police hurt

Protests against India's planned 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh, near the disputed border with China, turned violent on Friday, October 23, 2026, when demonstrators set fire to government offices and police vehicles, officials said. About 40 police personnel were injured by thrown stones and police used tear gas to disperse crowds, while Chief Minister Pema Khandu condemned the violence and urged protesters to talk instead.

What happened

The unrest followed a 12-hour bandh (shutdown) called by local groups across Siang, Upper Siang and parts of East Siang districts. Early on Friday, around 150 to 200 demonstrators from Geku and Komkar villages gathered at the Dite-Dime bridge near Geku. Officials said security forces fired tear gas when protesters tried to break through barricades; at least four women were taken to hospital, and one local report put the number of injured protesters at seven.

Tension grew through the day, and by Friday evening hundreds of protesters were on the streets of Pasighat, the East Siang district headquarters. Officials said crowds set fire to government offices and police vehicles, damaged a police station, vandalised offices of the state-run hydropower company NHPC and ransacked the homes of several elected representatives.

Siang dam protests	Details
Date	Friday, October 23, 2026 (12-hour bandh)
Area	Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts, Arunachal Pradesh
Police injured	About 40, hit by stones
Protesters hospitalised	At least 4 women (one report: 7 injured)
Damage	Government offices and police vehicles burned; police station damaged; NHPC offices vandalised
Project	Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, 11,200 MW, planned by NHPC
Villages at risk	Up to 27, mainly of the Adi community

The bandh was organised by groups including Adi Bane Kebang United, the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association, the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum youth wing and the Adi Galo Welfare Society. Their demands are:

• the immediate release of 10 detained activists;
• reinstatement of suspended village headmen (gaon buras);
• withdrawal of the project's pre-feasibility studies and survey work;
• removal of paramilitary and central forces deployed in the area.

Protesters also accused police of using excessive force, saying officers broke vehicle windscreens and fired tear gas at peaceful demonstrators. Officials said some protesters carried machetes, sticks and slingshots and violated prohibitory orders, and that legal action had been started.

Background: India's answer to China's mega-dam

The Siang river is the name of the Brahmaputra as it enters India from Tibet, where it is called the Yarlung Tsangpo. China is building a huge hydropower scheme on that river, estimated at about $167 billion, which is expected to become the largest in the world. New Delhi fears Beijing could one day control or disrupt flows downstream, affecting farms and cities in north-east India and Bangladesh. China says its project will have no negative impact downstream.

India's response is the Siang Upper project, which would be the country's largest hydropower plant by far. Its main purpose is strategic: a giant reservoir to store water and keep flows steady into the Brahmaputra. China also claims Arunachal Pradesh as "southern Tibet", which India rejects, and troops from both countries patrol the disputed Himalayan frontier.

Opposition has grown for more than a year. The Adi community, whose villages line the Siang valley, fears losing ancestral land, forests and farms. Earlier protests included the burning of a hanging bridge and repeated demands for central forces to leave.

Reactions

Khandu condemned the violence. "Question us, have dialogue with us, instead of violence," he told reporters on Saturday. The state government says the surveys only test whether the project is viable and do not mean construction has been approved, and argues the dam is vital to protect the region's water security.

Why it matters

The clashes show how hard it will be for India to build a strategic project in a remote border area without local consent. Large dams in the Himalayas raise concerns about earthquakes, landslides, floods and the loss of indigenous land. The water dispute with China also matters for all of South Asia: the Brahmaputra feeds millions of people in Assam and Bangladesh, and rivalry over Himalayan rivers is a growing source of tension in a region that includes Pakistan's own disputes over the Indus waters.

What happens next

Police are expected to investigate the arson and attacks on officials' homes, and more arrests are possible. Protest groups say they will continue until the detained activists are freed and survey work stops. Talks between community leaders, the state government and the centre are being urged on both sides, but no date has been announced.