Violent Arunachal shutdown cancels hearing on Subansiri Upper hydro project
A 12-hour shutdown led by the All Tagin Students' Union turned violent in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district on 26 October 2026. A public hearing on NHPC's proposed 1,605 MW Subansiri Upper Hydroelectric Project, the Menga Dam, was cancelled. Protesters demanding the project's withdrawal reportedly damaged vehicles and burnt equipment at an NHPC-linked office in Daporijo.
Syllabus: Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Infrastructure; GS3 · Environment & Conservation
Why this matters for UPSC
GS3 environment (environmental impact assessment) and GS2 governance: Prelims can ask who conducts and who presides over a public hearing under the EIA Notification, 2006; Mains, whether public consultation gives affected communities a real say.
Why it matters
Families in the villages a reservoir would flood stand to lose homes, farmland and forests their livelihoods depend on. A public hearing is the one point in the clearance process where they can speak directly before the decision is taken, and their objections must be answered in the final report. A hearing held behind barricades, or not held at all because of violence, weakens that voice. Supporters and opponents both lose a fair, recorded forum, and the decision rests more on officials' files. The same tension is now running across Arunachal Pradesh's river valleys, where large dams promise power and flood control but ask local communities to bear the cost.
Prelims pointers
- Since a 2022 amendment, hydroelectric projects of 100 MW or more are Category A; those of 25 MW to below 100 MW are Category B.
- The EIA Notification lays down four stages: screening (Category B only), scoping, public consultation and appraisal.
- The District Magistrate, or an officer not below Additional District Magistrate rank, presides over the hearing, assisted by a representative of the State Pollution Control Board.
- At least 30 days' notice of the hearing is given in a national daily and a regional vernacular daily.
- The proceedings are video-filmed, and no quorum is needed to start them.
- The hearing must be completed within 45 days of the proponent's request; otherwise the regulator engages another agency not subordinate to it.
- Environmental clearance for a river valley project is valid for 13 years.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the public hearing under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, consider the following statements:
1. The hearing is presided over by the Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board.
2. The public must be given a minimum notice period of 30 days to furnish responses.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 only
Answer: (b) 2 only. The SPCB arranges the hearing, but a district officer presides.
Statement 1: incorrect. Appendix IV makes the District Magistrate, Collector or Deputy Commissioner, or a representative not below ADM rank, supervise and preside, assisted by an SPCB representative.
Statement 2: correct. The SPCB Member Secretary advertises the hearing in a national and a regional daily, with at least 30 days' notice for responses.
Eliminate: statement 2 is correct, as Appendix IV fixes a minimum notice of 30 days. Out: (a), (d).
Eliminate: statement 1 is incorrect, since the district officer presides. Out: (c).
Trap: Swapped attribution. The SPCB conducts and records the hearing, so a student may pin the chair on its Member Secretary too.
Remember: SPCB arranges and records; the District Magistrate presides.
Explainers on this topic
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