Itanagar: Neither the Centre nor the Arunachal Pradesh government has taken a decision on the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Monday evening. "Let me be clear. We are not talking about dam construction at this stage," he said.
Only a pre-feasibility report is being prepared, Khandu said. Its job is to assess the project's viability and possible implications, and it does not amount to approval for construction.
"I want to assure you that your voices, your land, your homes and our beloved Aane Siang remain at the heart of every consideration," he said in an open letter. "Your concerns will be addressed through open dialogue, transparency and meaningful public consultation." He added that in a democracy every voice matters and disagreement is a right, then appealed for peace and warned against violence, blockades and attacks.
Declared a National Project in 2008, the scheme gained strategic weight after China began building a large hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet in July 2025, the chief minister said.
Large sections of the Adi community oppose the dam, fearing that ancestral villages will be submerged, families displaced, farmland and forests lost, and a traditional way of life disrupted. The state government argues the project is a strategic safeguard against China's upstream construction.
The Congress has demanded that the project be scrapped permanently and opposes even the preparation of the PFR. A 36-hour bandh called by the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum and the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association began on Monday.
Shops, markets and several educational institutions stayed closed in Upper Siang district on Monday and public transport was hit. Demonstrators reportedly burnt tyres at several places. Protests in Pasighat on Saturday had turned violent, leaving charred vehicles behind.
Protesters are still pressing for the release of those arrested during the agitation, the deployment of security forces to be reviewed and survey work to be suspended. Khandu's letter did not address those demands.