Adi activist Katon Moyong rejects Siang dam plan

Adi activist and engineer Katon Moyong, known as ‘Abor Man’, told Northeast Now in Guwahati that the Centre and the Arunachal Pradesh government have no right to push the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project without the consent of indigenous communities, reiterating a 47-year opposition to any dam on the Siang river.

Activist challenges the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project

Moyong said the community has been saying no to a Siang dam for 47 years and directly addressed Chief Minister Pema Khandu, stating that discussions have gone on long enough. He warned that if the government proceeds with a dam on the main Siang river, it would have to "exterminate Adi people," while indicating that smaller tributary dams might be acceptable to the community.

Government’s national-security narrative

The BJP-led Centre and state have argued that the project is needed to counter possible downstream effects of China’s upstream hydropower developments, specifically the 60 GW Medog project on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. Moyong called this a "false narrative," insisting that national-security concerns cannot replace the need for free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. He suggested that if the government is truly worried about China, it should raise the issue directly with Beijing rather than pressuring local communities.

Historical opposition and shifting justifications

Moyong recalled that a traditional council rejected an earlier Siang dam proposal in 1979 when it was presented as a flood-mitigation measure, declaring that "not an inch of land or a drop of water" would be given to the project. The present multipurpose scheme emerged after NITI Aayog combined the Siang Upper Stage-I and Stage-II plans into a single storage project in 2017. Moyong described the resistance as a decades-long struggle against what he said were corporate, business and political attempts to seize ancestral land.

Political leaders and broader grievances

While Khandu has acknowledged the need to consult locals, stating that the public is the owner of the land, Moyong criticised the chief minister for not accepting the community’s opposition. He also linked the dam issue to wider concerns, questioning restrictions on border trade with China and Myanmar and asking why the region must rely on goods from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Moyong warned that continued pressure could provoke a hostile response, saying, "If you come with guns and armies, that’s how we will retaliate… Let’s keep the boundary clear."

Police appointment controversy

Moyong raised questions about the appointment of Arunachal Pradesh Director General of Police Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, who previously headed Ladakh Police during the September 24 2025 firing that left four people dead in Leh. Jamwal’s transfer to Arunachal Pradesh was announced in January 2026, and Moyong suggested the appointment adds to community unease amid the dam controversy.

The Siang dam debate therefore intertwines indigenous rights, strategic security arguments and political accountability, with Katon Moyong urging the government to seek genuine dialogue rather than impose projects on the Adi people.