Itanagar, Nov. 2 -- Mobile internet services have been suspended across Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Siang district amid escalating protests against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), as a 36-hour bandh called by local organisations began on Monday, November 2.

The shutdown, which began at 5 am, covers Upper Siang, Siang and East Siang districts and was called by the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum (SIFF) and the SUMP Affected Area Youth Association (SAAYA), with support from student unions and community-based organisations.

The organisations are demanding the release of activists detained during protests against the proposed hydropower project and an immediate halt to pre-feasibility report (PFR) survey activit...