India has deployed hundreds of additional security personnel in its remote northeast following violent protests over a planned mega-dam project, authorities said Tuesday.
Clashes erupted last week in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang Valley, which borders Tibet, as youth protesters opposed plans to build the 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Police fired tear gas shells during the confrontations, while protesters pelted stones and set fire to a police station and an office of the state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, according to authorities.
At least 21 arrests were made during the violent clashes. "Forces are being increased in the places where it is required. We do not want any law and order problem," SD Singh Jamwal, police chief of Arunachal Pradesh, told Reuters.
The proposed dam is intended to counter a Chinese hydropower project upstream. Sporadic protests have occurred in the Siang Valley over the past two years as opposition to the project has persisted among local residents.