Around 40 police personnel injured as protesters throw stones, vandalise hydropower company\u2019s offices
\n New delhi
\nIndian protesters angry over a proposed Himalayan mega-dam, intended to counter an upstream Chinese hydropower project, have clashed with police and torched buildings, officials said. The violence in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state erupted late on Friday during protests against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project of state-run hydropower company NHPC, Chief Minister Pema Khandu told reporters on Saturday.
\n\u201cThe mob destroyed a lot of properties, police station, the NHPC office was vandalised, several elected representatives\u2019 homes were ransacked,\u201d Khandu told reporters.
\nAround 40 police personnel were injured by stones thrown by protesters, who also vandalised the NHPC\u2019s offices. Police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
\nKhandu urged opponents of the project to engage with the government. \u201cQuestion us, have dialogue with us, instead of violence,\u201d Khandu said. India says the proposed dam is needed to counter China\u2019s $167-billion Yaxia project, a likely record-breaking hydropower scheme upstream in Tibet.
\nNew Delhi fears the Chinese project could affect water flows downstream, and says the proposed Indian dam would create a vast reservoir to store water and help maintain flows into the Brahmaputra river. Beijing has said its project will have no \u201cnegative impact\u201d downstream.
\nChina claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet. India says the state is an integral part of its territory.
\nIndia\u2019s proposed dam, which would be by far its largest hydropower project, has drawn fierce opposition from local communities who fear the loss of their homes and land.
\nThe project underscores tensions between the two most populous countries, which share a disputed Himalayan border patrolled by tens of thousands of troops.
\nIndia\u2019s foreign ministry said on Friday the two sides remained in regular contact to manage border tensions, after a top Indian border police official Shatrujeet Kapur reported \u201cface offs\u201d between Indian and Chinese forces.
\n\u201cThe situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,\u201d foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi. \u201cBoth sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Around 40 police personnel injured as protesters throw stones, vandalise hydropower company\u2019s offices New delhi Indian protesters angry over a proposed Himalayan mega-dam, intended to counter an upstream Chinese hydropower project, have clashed with police and torched buildings, officials said. The violence in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state erupted late on Friday during protests against the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-574291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n