Tribal villagers in Chhatarpur district have escalated their protest against the Ken-Betwa river-linking project after talks with officials failed to produce consensus. The dispute is significant for UPSC because it combines water-resource planning, displacement, rehabilitation policy, and environmental protection in one project.
The protest is being led largely by women. On the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village, protesters staged a symbolic demonstration by placing nooses around their necks. The agitation entered its fifth day.
The same region saw an earlier protest in April, when villagers lay on symbolic pyres to draw attention to their demands. The current dispute shows that rehabilitation concerns remain unresolved despite earlier outreach.
Background and earlier position
The Ken-Betwa project is part of India’s wider river interlinking agenda. The note places it under the National Perspective Plan for water resources development and interlinking of rivers with surplus and deficit water. It was flagged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2024, and the project is described as the first of 30 river-linking projects under that framework.
Residents have long raised two connected concerns: rehabilitation support for families affected by land acquisition and relocation, and ecological stress in a sensitive landscape. Part of the project lies within Panna National Park and Tiger Reserve, which has drawn objections from environmentalists.
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