Protests against a proposed mega hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh turned violent at Pasighat on Friday night, with a mob torching an office of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and a police station, vandalising the homes of political leaders, and leaving more than 40 police personnel injured in stone-pelting that continued in waves for nearly nine hours.
The violence in East Siang district followed a 12-hour bandh across Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), one of the largest hydropower proposals in the country. The bandh itself had ended peacefully at 5 pm on Friday, but trouble erupted hours later, at around 11 pm, in Pasighat town and the adjoining Mebo area.
According to police, protesters set fire to the NHPC office in the high region area of Pasighat and torched a police station there. At least nine police vehicles were damaged, and a mob hurled stones at a hospital where injured central force personnel had been taken for treatment. A protester was hit in the leg by a tear gas shell and admitted to hospital.
"The NHPC office in the high region area of Pasighat was set ablaze, while a police station there was also torched," Pasighat Deputy Superintendent of Police Tony Tatak said, adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage. Tatak himself was injured in the violence, and said the protesters had come from the Mebo area.
The homes of two political leaders were vandalised in the unrest: BJP state unit president and former MLA Kaling Moyong, and Pasighat West legislator Ninong Ering. The office of the Adi Baane Kebang, the apex body of the Adi community, was also ransacked. Police said the residences were also looted in some cases, a detail that added to the sense of anger directed not only at the project but at the political establishment associated with it.
Inspector General of Police Hibu Tamang said more than 40 police personnel were injured in stone-pelting during the night. "More than 40 police personnel were injured in stone pelting. One of our deputy SPs suffered a head injury and has been evacuated to Dibrugarh, where he is being treated. Central Police Force personnel were also badly hurt," Tamang told the media.
The violence, Tamang said, was attributed to a group he described as the "Gen Z Youth Group", which had arrived in Pasighat from Mebo earlier on Friday afternoon. After the bandh ended, protesters blocked roads and shouted slogans against Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Police used tear gas after warnings to disperse went unheeded, and as darkness fell, groups allegedly hurled stones, injuring security personnel, before setting fire to buildings and vehicles.
The bandh had been jointly called by the Adi Baane Kebang United, the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association, the Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum Youth Wing and the Adi Galo Welfare Society. Their demands included the release of 10 activists, an end to the pre-feasibility survey for the project, and the withdrawal of central forces from the area.
During the bandh itself, clashes were reported at Dite-Dime in Siang district, where protesters allegedly targeted security forces with stones and personnel dispersed the mob by firing tear gas shells. Four women were admitted to a local hospital after suffering breathing difficulties from tear gas exposure, while four to five personnel were injured in stone-pelting there. In East Siang, clashes were also reported near Ranaghat Bridge in Mebo.
Around 150 to 200 protesters, allegedly armed with machetes, lathis and slingshots, attempted to vandalise police vehicles and breach barricades before pelting security personnel with stones, officials said. The scale of the mobilisation, and the youth of many of those involved, has drawn attention to how the anti-dam movement in the Siang valley has evolved, with younger activists playing an increasingly visible role.
In response to the violence, the East Siang district administration imposed restrictions on public gatherings and processions in Pasighat, Mebo and Ruksin. In an executive order issued on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner Jayanti Pertin said the restrictions would come into effect from 5 pm on October 24 and remain in force until withdrawn or modified.
Police later described the measures as restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, prohibiting public gatherings and the carrying of weapons in the affected areas, in anticipation of a possible breach of law and order.
Pasighat remained shut on Saturday after the night of violence, with the town's streets quiet under the shadow of the previous night's arson. The shutdown underscored how quickly a protest movement can alter daily life in a district headquarters, and how difficult it can be for authorities to restore a sense of normalcy once property has been destroyed.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Saturday expressed concern over the incidents of vandalism, looting and damage to property in Pasighat. He said the bandh had remained largely peaceful in Siang and Upper Siang districts and in Pasighat during the day, but that incidents were reported in Pasighat after the bandh period ended, continuing into the early hours of Saturday.
He invited all stakeholders for talks, while reiterating that the project will move forward only with the consensus of the public.
That assurance goes to the heart of the dispute. The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, as proposed, would be among India's largest hydropower ventures, with a capacity of around 11,200 megawatts. Supporters in government argue that such projects are essential for India's energy security, for flood moderation in the Brahmaputra basin, and for the economic development of a remote border state.
Opponents, led by Adi community organisations and farmers' groups, fear displacement, loss of ancestral land, ecological damage to the Siang river, and a future in which decisions about their homeland are taken far from the valley itself.
The Siang river, known downstream as the Brahmaputra, is central to the identity and livelihood of the Adi people, who have lived along its banks for generations. For many protesters, opposition to the dam is not only about a single project but about who gets to decide the future of the river and the land around it. The demand for an end to the pre-feasibility survey reflects a deeper demand: that no work proceed without the consent of affected communities.
Hydropower has long been a contentious subject in Arunachal Pradesh, which has enormous hydroelectric potential but where many proposed projects have stalled amid local opposition, environmental concerns and questions about whether the benefits flow to local people. The state sits on India's eastern frontier, and large infrastructure projects there also carry strategic significance, adding another layer to debates that are already emotional and complex.
The events in Pasighat also raise questions about crowd management and communication. The bandh passed off peacefully during the day, yet violence erupted after it ended, suggesting that formal protest organisers and the groups that took to the streets at night were not necessarily the same people, or that the mood shifted once the organised shutdown was over.
Police have pointed to the arrival of a youth group from Mebo as a turning point, while protest sympathisers have pointed to the use of tear gas and the detention of activists as sources of anger.
What happens next will depend heavily on whether the talks offered by the chief minister take place, and whether they are seen as genuine. Past experience in Arunachal Pradesh suggests that assurances about consensus are tested by communities against concrete actions: whether surveys stop, whether detained activists are released, and whether central forces are scaled back.
Until those tests are met, the restrictions in Pasighat, Mebo and Ruksin are likely to remain a visible reminder of a night when a long-running dispute over a river turned into arson on the streets of a district town.
For now, the authorities are counting the damage, treating the injured, and watching for any fresh mobilisation. The protesters, meanwhile, have shown that opposition to the Siang project remains organised, determined and capable of drawing large numbers onto the streets. The confrontation over one of India's biggest proposed dams is far from over.
(Reporting based on The Telegraph, The Times of India and The Tribune.)