Why are there protests over the Ken-Betwa project?
The Ken-Betwa Link Project, India's first major river-linking initiative, is facing significant opposition from tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh. Protesters argue that the project, which aims to transfer water between rivers, threatens their land and livelihoods, leading to recent police intervention.
Why it matters
The project highlights the ongoing tension between large-scale national infrastructure development and the rights of indigenous populations.
The story so far: Madhya Pradesh police personnel went to the banks of the Barana river stream in Kupi village of Chhatarpur district on July 19 and cleared a protest site where hundreds of villagers, mostly tribal people, had been demonstrating for two weeks against the Union government’s ₹44,000 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project, India’s first river-linking project, and two irrigation projects of the State government.
The police took local activist Amit Bhatnagar, founder of the Jai Kisan Sangathan, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike for 14 days, and admitted him to a government hospital. They also picked up nearly 150 protestors, most of them from neighbouring Panna district, in buses and dropped them off at their villages.
The Ken-Betwa project reflects the ill-conceived rationale behind river-linking
Ken-Betwa project: Bringing rivers closer
Ken-Betwa protest: Why are tribals opposing the river-linking project | Explained
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