Siang groups call boycott of Arunachal CM's hydropower project meeting

Activist groups representing communities along the Siang River have urged Adi indigenous bodies to stay away from the proposed meeting with the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, citing concerns over hydropower projects in the ecologically significant region.

The call for boycott reflects growing tensions between state authorities and local communities over large-scale dam construction along the Siang, one of the Brahmaputra's major tributaries. Indigenous groups have long opposed hydropower schemes in the area, citing environmental degradation, potential displacement risks, and impacts on traditional livelihoods and sacred sites.

The Siang River, which flows through densely forested terrain in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, has been at the centre of development controversies. Multiple hydropower projects have been proposed or under various stages of planning, drawing both support from the state government for economic development and fierce resistance from local communities and environmental activists.

The boycott call suggests deepening divisions between state development priorities and grassroots opposition among the Adi people, who constitute a significant population in the Siang basin. The outcome of these tensions could shape the trajectory of hydropower development in one of India's most ecologically rich but politically sensitive border regions.