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As protests rage across Arunachal Pradesh over a proposed mega-dam on the Siang river, a second project in the same valley has quietly cleared a major hurdle. A Union Environment Ministry panel has recommended in-principle forest clearance for the 1,000-MW Naying Hydroelectric Project — a decision that would divert 470.8 hectares of forest land and fell 1,04,036 trees. The clearance landed in the middle of an already volatile standoff between indigenous communities and the state, and it has made the Siang valley one of India's most combustible environmental flashpoints.
What was actually approved
The Forest Advisory Committee recommended Stage-I, or in-principle, forest clearance for the Naying project at its meeting on October 23, 2026, according to the official minutes reported in early November. The project, run by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) at an estimated cost of ₹10,369 crore, is a run-of-the-river scheme with peaking power capability on the Siyom River, a major tributary of the Siang, in the Shi Yomi and Siang districts bordering China. The clearance would allow the diversion of 470.8 hectares of "unclassed forest" land in an area the committee itself categorised as a "high conservation value zone" of very dense forest. The minutes record that 1,04,036 trees would be affected — 48,282 with a girth above 60 centimetres and 55,754 below it. The environmental impact assessment identifies disruption to 12 villages and more than 400 families, and the project involves a concrete gravity dam 138 metres high. Construction is expected to begin around 2028, with commissioning targeted for 2032. Stage-I clearance is not final approval: conditions including compensatory afforestation over 942 hectares — twice the diverted area — must be fulfilled before Stage-II formal diversion can be granted.
Why it is inflaming the protests
The timing is what makes the decision explosive. It comes as central paramilitary forces remain deployed across the East Siang, Siang and Upper Siang districts to suppress resistance against the far larger 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum, at the forefront of the opposition, says more than 3,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the valley. On November 2, Chief Minister Pema Khandu issued an open letter assuring the Adi community that no decision on the construction of the SUMP had been taken by either the Centre or the state, and that nothing would proceed without detailed public consultations and the explicit consent of affected communities. The current step, he said, was only the preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Report — an assessment of viability and alternatives, not an approval. But the Naying clearance tells a different story on the ground: landowners from seven affected villages met at Yapik on September 23 and formally suspended all cooperation with NEEPCO after it proposed compensation of just ₹130 per square metre for land and forest resources. As local landowners continue to reject the offers, the approval of a second dam in the same basin is poised to further inflame regional unrest.
The China factor behind the urgency
Khandu's letter also laid out why the state says it cannot simply walk away from the river. China reportedly began constructing a massive dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Medog County, roughly 40 kilometres from the Indian border, on July 19, 2025, without consulting India or sharing data. Around 65% of the Siang's water originates in China, leaving the valley exposed to sudden, exceptionally high flows with little warning — and to water scarcity in the dry winter months. The SUMP, declared a National Project by the Union Cabinet on February 7, 2008, is framed by the government as a strategic answer to that vulnerability. The protesters' answer is that a dam built over their ancestral land, river systems and cultural heritage is not the protection they asked for.
Naying is not an isolated case. It is one of at least four hydroelectric projects planned in the Siang basin: the 700-MW Tato-II project on the Siyom was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in August 2025, and the 1,720-MW Kamala project on the Kamla river is under review — a proposal that could require felling around 24 lakh trees. Stage-I clearance is a long way from a built dam, and the conditions attached to it could still slow or stop the project. But in a valley where paramilitary troops are already deployed and trust has already broken down, each new clearance reads to protesters as a decision already made. For India's wider environmental pressures, see our reports on India's air pollution crisis and the COP31 climate finance agenda. And for why governments everywhere are suddenly telling citizens to prepare, see our explainer on the global stockpiling wave.
Sources: The Indian Express, The Assam Tribune.