UPSC Darpan

Environment & EcologyGS37 October 2026

Adi Youth Body Seeks Forces’ Withdrawal as Siang Dam Survey Protests Turn to Clashes

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The news

Guwahati, October 6. The All Adi Youth Association has asked the government to withdraw Central Armed Police Forces and State Police deployed, it alleges, to quell protests against the pre-feasibility report — the first technical study of a site — and surveys for the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, after days of clashes in Siang and Upper Siang districts, The Hindu reports. Secretary Okut Taki decried the “militarisation” of the Siang belt, saying the Adis resolve disputes through customary institutions such as the Kebang. Rebutting the BJP government’s claim of majority support, he said memoranda signed with villagers do not reflect all 27 affected villages. NHPC’s project is estimated at at least 11,000 MW; the Centre and State call it a counter to China’s 60,000 MW Medog station upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo. New since September: clashes and an armed deployment.

The chain in one line: China builds the 60,000 MW Medog station upstream → India backs an 11,000 MW-plus Siang dam as a counter → NHPC surveys need entry into Adi villages → memoranda with some, protests from others → clashes and a demand to withdraw the forces

Static syllabus linkage

  1. The Siang becomes the Brahmaputra in Assam, and no treaty shares its waters. The Yarlung Tsangpo enters Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang and, joined by the Dibang and the Lohit in Assam, becomes the Brahmaputra (the Jamuna in Bangladesh). India and China have no water-sharing treaty, only an Expert Level Mechanism (2006) and memoranda under which China supplies flood-season hydrological data.
  2. A survey comes before every legal gate for consent and ecology. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and a 2009 Environment Ministry order, forest land is diverted only after rights are settled and the gram sabha consents; the Niyamgiri judgment (2013) upheld the gram sabha’s say. Under the EIA Notification, 2006, hydro projects of 50 MW or more are Category A, appraised at the Centre after a public hearing.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Himalayan dams meet three syllabus lines. GS3 lists “Infrastructure: Energy” and “environmental impact assessment”; GS2 asks for the protection of vulnerable sections. China’s upstream works add India–China relations.

Prelims nuggets

  • India and China have no water-sharing treaty; they use an Expert Level Mechanism (2006) and hydrological-data memoranda.
  • Under the EIA Notification, 2006, hydroelectric projects of 50 MW or more are Category A, appraised at the Centre.
  • Article 371H gives the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh special responsibility for law and order.

Analysis

  1. Memoranda with some families cannot replace the consent of 27 villages. Adi consent is collective and voiced through the Kebang, so deals with selected households divide villages rather than settle them. A survey under armed escort yields data but spends the trust the project will need for decades. Yet without a survey no one can judge the dam, so route it through village councils and share findings first.
  2. Lens — Development and environment: the strategic case for big storage is also the case for the biggest local cost. Absorbing a sudden release from Medog needs a large reservoir: more submerged Adi land, forest and habitat, in a belt where the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake (magnitude 8.6) blocked rivers with landslides. The nation gains; the valley pays for generations. A thoughtful officer would disclose the size-versus-submergence trade-off and test smaller designs first.
  3. Outside the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, customary councils are the only local check. Arunachal has no autonomous district council or PESA gram sabha standing between a central PSU, a willing State and the village. Central forces also blur who answers for injuries. A formal role for Kebangs and gram sabhas would make consent a procedure, not a favour.

Possible Mains question

Critically examine whether strategic rationale can justify the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project without the consent of affected Adi communities. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Critically examine. Weigh strategy against consent, ecology and seismic risk; give a verdict.
  2. Introduction — a dam survey under armed escort. The clashes, the 11,000 MW scale, the Medog argument.
  3. Body — storage answers Medog but maximises submergence. Value addition: the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake.
  4. Body — legitimacy needs collective consent. 27 villages; FRA; Niyamgiri. Draw a flowchart: survey, DPR, EIA hearing, forest clearance, marking where consent enters.
  5. Conclusion — consent first, size second. Survey through Kebangs; publish findings.

Administrator's brainstorm

As Deputy Commissioner of Siang district, how would you restore calm?

I would pause surveys in villages that saw clashes and move forces to standby, since police cannot be the face of a project. I would convene each Kebang with NHPC engineers to explain what the survey commits, record objections, and sign memoranda only after open village meetings.