Normal life across the Itanagar Capital Region has been severely disrupted by a 12-hour bandh called by the Public Rights Action Committee (PRAC), despite the district administration declaring the shutdown illegal. The bandh runs from 5 am to 5 pm, pressing the state government on a set of demands that go well beyond a single issue.
PRAC general secretary Millo Ambo said the immediate trigger is the continued detention of people arrested under the Arunachal Pradesh Public Safety Act following a protest in Pasighat against the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). According to Ambo, the committee had given the state government a deadline to secure their release, and proceeded with the bandh after several detainees allegedly remained behind bars. How many detainees remain held has not been independently verified in the reporting available so far.
Healthcare and roads join the charter
The committee has widened its demands to include public healthcare and road connectivity, alleging that repeated appeals have failed to produce satisfactory action. On healthcare, PRAC has called for adequate deployment of pharmacists, improved ambulance services and hearse vans, better fuel allocation for emergency services, and a drug testing laboratory within Arunachal Pradesh. Ambo argued that without a testing facility, questions arise over the quality of medicines supplied to the state.
Roads form the other strand of the protest. PRAC has pointed to the poor condition of National Highway 415, which serves the capital region, questioning how a major national highway could remain in such poor condition when several roads inside residential colonies were reportedly better maintained. The highway affects commuters, traders, patients and students, and the committee presents it as a symbol of neglected basic infrastructure.
A shutdown against a prohibitory order
The shutdown went ahead despite a prohibitory order issued by Capital Complex District Magistrate Toko Babu under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The administration termed the bandh illegal and unlawful, and warned that forced shutdowns disproportionately affect daily wage earners, patients, traders and commuters, citing previous instances of violence, damage to property and economic disruption. PRAC has warned that failure to address its demands could trigger a wider agitation, threatening to prolong the shutdown and expand it across Arunachal Pradesh.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu has sought to project calm on frontier questions facing the state, while Assam and Arunachal Pradesh recently agreed to form a joint committee on their long-running boundary dispute. The capital bandh shows a different pressure point: grievances at home over detentions, health services and everyday roads.
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