Why it is in the news
On 23 September 2026, the Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu adopted a resolution constituting an empowered high-level committee “to guide and coordinate” the pre-feasibility report (PFR) survey for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), as villagers along the Siang continue to resist the survey. The Cabinet recalled that the Union government had declared SUMP a national project in 2008, and local authorities held school exhibitions on the project for 640 students from four schools in Siang district.
The exam angle
Issue: Can India build a strategic storage dam on the Siang to hedge against China's upstream mega-project without overriding the customary rights, consent and ecological security of the Adi communities who live on the river?