This paper attempts to undertake an in- depth study of people’s movement against Tipaimukh Project in Manipur, in the larger context of popular opposition to development projects which displace indigenous populations of Manipur and the north- east region. By drawing upon both primary sources such as project reports, environmental impact assessment reports, reports of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and newspaper reports as well as secondary sources in the form of books and journal articles, it lays out the myriad reasons for popular resistance against the project such as loss of land and livelihood, impacts on indigenous culture and way of life, ecological costs, procedural lapses and lack of democratic consultative process among others. The paper also provides a detailed account of the different aspects of the popular movement against the project, such the organisations involved, different mechanisms employed to raise popular consciousness and various modes of collective action undertaken during the course of the movement. It concludes tentatively that when elected government acting in certain interests, implements developmental projects disregarding the voices and aspirations of indigenous people, social movements remains the only mechanism to articulate their voices and make the government accountable.