The Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the movement of 250 personnel on Saturday, with the units to be flown from Navi Mumbai aboard an Air Force transport aircraft. Officials said the reinforcements were expected to reach Pasighat by Sunday to assist security forces stationed there.
The deployment followed arson, vandalism and clashes during demonstrations opposing the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Police said a mob attacked an office of state-run hydropower developer NHPC, damaged a police station and targeted the residences of three political leaders in East Siang district on Friday night.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu appealed for calm and said demonstrations must remain peaceful. His office said a 12-hour shutdown across Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts had been largely peaceful before disturbances broke out in Pasighat after the protest ended. The violence continued until approximately 3.30 am on Saturday.
The Rapid Action Force is a specialised riot-control formation within the Central Reserve Police Force. Its deployment adds to the CRPF units already operating in the affected districts. Arunachal Pradesh also has a standing presence of roughly two to three CRPF battalions.
Security officials said personnel from the CRPF and other police forces were injured while responding to the unrest. They maintained that the forces had prevented further escalation, although the attacks on public buildings and private residences exposed the intensity of opposition surrounding the project.
Authorities also imposed restrictions on gatherings in Pasighat, Mebo and Ruksin, prohibiting assemblies of more than five people in designated areas. The measures cover processions, the carrying of weapons and activities likely to disturb public order. District officials appealed to residents to cooperate with police and avoid further confrontation.
The homes of state BJP president Kaling Moyong and legislators Ninong Ering and Oni Panyang were among properties targeted during the disturbances. Police have been examining the attacks, including vehicle damage, while seeking to identify those responsible for the violence.
Khandu said peaceful protest was an essential democratic right but could not justify destruction of property or threats to public safety. He also reiterated the government’s willingness to hold discussions with organisations opposing the project and urged them to raise their concerns through dialogue.
Opposition to the dam centres on fears that a large reservoir could displace communities, submerge ancestral land and damage the river environment. Indigenous groups, including organisations representing Adi communities in the Siang valley, have questioned the impact on settlements, agriculture and cultural heritage.
Protest organisers have also demanded a halt to preliminary surveys and the release of activists detained during earlier demonstrations. Their objections concern not only the eventual construction of the dam but also technical investigations they believe could advance the proposal without sufficient community consent.
The state government maintains that the project has not received a final construction decision. Khandu has said preliminary feasibility assessments are necessary before its benefits, costs and possible consequences can be evaluated, and that affected residents should have opportunities to express their views.
Officials have presented the proposed storage project partly as a response to concerns over China’s planned hydropower development upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo, the river that enters Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang. They argue that regulating water flows could help address downstream risks, while opponents remain concerned about the local environmental and social costs.
The shutdown preceding the violence was organised by groups opposed to the project across the three affected districts. Their mobilisation followed disagreements over survey work and the handling of protests, leaving the authorities facing demands for consultation and accountability over security confrontations.
Anti-dam activist Ebo Mili and youth leader Otul Jerang surrendered at Pasighat police station on Saturday in connection with cases arising from the disturbances. Both condemned damage to public property and disputed suggestions that the protest organisers were responsible for the mob attacks. Their accounts of how the confrontation developed differ from the police version.
The district administration and police have called for restraint as investigations continue. Officials have not publicly established every confrontation or identified all those involved in the attacks. The differing accounts underline the need to distinguish allegations about individual actions from the broader campaign against the dam.
