How Indigenous Communities are Battling ‘Development’ in Arunachal Pradesh

From the shock reverberating through a Gauhati High Court judge's voice to the desperate cries of villagers in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang Valley, India's Northeast faces an unprecedented assault on its cultural fabric in the name of development. The region, home to over 200 indigenous tribes, finds itself caught between ambitious infrastructure projects and the fundamental rights of its first peoples.

Tribes from the Dibang district in Arunachal Pradesh are facing a looming crisis as the Siang Multipurpose Dam Project threatens to displace communities, flood lands and erode the fragile ecosystem. Communities and local groups protest despite systemic resistance, armed force deployment, and more.

Communities raise concerns 

The stark reality crystallised in a Gauhati High Court hearing when Justice Arun Dev Choudhury's voice betrayed genuine shock: "3000 Bighas! The entire district? What is going on?" The case concerned approximately 3,000 bighas (around 4 square kilometres) of land in the tribal-majority Dima Hasao district allocated to Mahabal Cement Private Limited for a cement factory.

This extraordinary land transfer exemplifies a broader pattern of development projects imposed upon indigenous communities without genuine consultation. Human rights lawyer Ebo Mili explains the fundamental violation: "They have never taken concern: the state government, the local representative, the MLAs. They're actually violating the FRA [Forest Rights Act] and also they are violating the FPIC, the free prior informed consent."

The pattern is consistent across the Northeast: mega-projects are conceived in distant capitals, approved through opaque processes, and imposed upon communities whose voices are systematically excluded from decision-making.

The Push for 'Development' in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh has become the focal point of India's ambitious energy projects. According to Mili, "Since the late 90s, over 160 memorandums of understanding have been signed for hydropower projects. The state, along with the central government, aims to tap into a capacity of around 57,000 megawatts."

The most controversial is the Siang Multipurpose Project, a dam with a proposed capacity of 2,880 megawatts, set to be India's highest gravity dam. Mili points out the irony: "It was originally 3,000 megawatts. After protests and a human rights outcry, it was reduced to 2,880, which still makes it a joke. Our people were told it's for electricity, but we all know this is for commercial export, and not for local consumption."

The project will displace many families and critically affect the valley's delicate ecosystem. Around 80 villages are marked to be affected, with a rural population of more than 40,000.

The push for hydropower comes amid narratives of national security and competition with China. However, Ebo Mili clarifies: "The contribution of that river to the Siang is hardly 30%. The other 70% originates from our glaciers. These narratives are misleading and ignore local realities."

This rush to industrialise is accompanied by road construction at alarming rates, often ignoring ecological norms. Senior scientist Dr. Ravi Chopra, Director of People's Science Institute, Dehra Doon and a Managing Trustee of Himalaya Foundation, New Delhi, explains: "Roads are being built at angles as steep as 60 degrees, justified by new machines. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) are either skipped or poorly drafted."

All about protecting culture

For the communities of the Siang Valley, development is not an abstract concept—it is an existential threat. Environmental activist and researcher, Mansi Asher notes: "Hydropower and tourism are the major sources of the economy for the belt, but these both are now causing huge issues. In the name of climate change, far more damage is being done."

Free, prior, and informed consent—a foundational principle for development—is systematically ignored. Sania Rehmani, Director of There is No Earth B collective, explains: "The community has been protesting for over 40 years. Different variations of the project have been proposed, but the reason remains unchanged—these are ancestral lands that cannot be sacrificed for industrial growth."

Tensions escalated as armed forces were deployed to support surveys for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. In protest, villagers announced an indefinite peaceful sit-in starting May 23, 2025.

These protests are not symbolic—they are acts of survival. "The villagers burnt down drilling machines brought in for preliminary studies to oppose it," Mili reports. "They are not willing to part with their land, but paramilitary forces have been deployed to intimidate them."

The state's response to dissent has been repression. Lawyer and protestor Bhanu Tatak shares the grim reality: "People working to save their land and environment face constant security threats. Even peaceful protests are met with arrests."

Climate Change and the Impracticality of Sustainability

The hydropower projects are being justified under the guise of combating climate change, yet this rhetoric is dangerously misleading. Ravi Chopra highlights the science: "Dams are now being made through engineering as engineering marvels, and not ecological understanding. Melting paraglaciers, which fuel these rivers, threaten these structures. Over 70% of rivers are already near dead."

Vijay Mahajan, CEO of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, notes how climate action plans are disconnected from affected communities: "Plans are drafted in Delhi, miles away from mountain communities. Even ministers admit, as a joke, that local voices are missing in policy design. Without consultation, these projects are doomed to fail."

Mansi Asher underscores this disconnect. "We are viewing dams as checkpoints in political powerplay. We want dams to counter what China does. We want dams to threaten our neighbours and keep them in check. This is the logic. But at what cost?"

The environmental consequences are already visible. Cloudbursts, once seasonal events, are now intensified by glacial melt and poor planning. Ebo Mili recalls the 2023 Sikkim destruction when a glacial lake burst, destroying a 1,200-megawatt dam and wreaking havoc across the landscape.

Seeking a Sustainable Future Rooted in Justice

Despite these challenges, activists believe a sustainable future is possible—but only if development is reimagined with communities at its centre. Sania argues: "The conversation about free, prior, informed consent is absent in planning. When people protest peacefully, they are incarcerated instead of heard."

For Mili, the solution is rooted in respecting ecological and cultural realities: "Our natural environment and way of life are deeply tied. Without protecting forests and rivers, we are dismantling our own existence. Local voices must be the foundation of any development."

Vijay Mahajan points to democratic processes as essential safeguards: "Public consultations are essential, but they are ignored. Even millions of emails are overlooked. Communities must hold elected representatives accountable."

The question is not whether development and preservation can coexist—it is whether planners are willing to shift from profit-driven models to community-centred solutions. The stakes are high. As Ravi warns: "Without ecological understanding, these dams are ticking time bombs."

The crisis in Arunachal Pradesh is not just about rivers and dams. It is about identity, justice, and the right of communities to shape their own future. It is a reminder that development without dialogue is destruction in disguise.