On 19 July 2026, police cleared the protest against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and shifted protest leader Amit Bhatnagar to a hospital after he had been on a 14-day hunger strike. Authorities claimed that the action was taken due to the rising river level following heavy rainfall.
Project and Its Objectives
The Ken-Betwa Link Project is a river-linking project that transfers surplus water from the Ken River in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa River in Uttar Pradesh. It is mainly aimed at irrigating drought-prone land in the Bundelkhand region.
This project involves building a dam within the UNESCO-designated biosphere of the Panna Tiger Reserve. It is a multipurpose dam that will produce 103 MW of hydropower, supply water to 62 lakh people, and aims to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares of land.
Concerns Over Displacement and Biodiversity
As per the project plan, the dam will be constructed within the Panna Tiger Reserve, which will submerge a major portion of it. This raises concerns about the local wildlife and biodiversity.
For this project, nearly 2,000 tribal families need to be displaced. An agitation was staged after failed negotiations regarding compensation and rehabilitation for the displaced families.
The tribal communities, Gond and Saur, claimed that they were told to leave without being properly surveyed or fairly compensated.
Due to displacement of their origin
ReplyDeleteThey have need to more compensation and sympathy