Bundelkhand Water Project Faces Stiff Resistance Over Displacement and Integrity Gaps

Contested Transitions in India’s First River-Linking Initiative

Police intervention in Chhatarpur district’s Kupi village on July 19 marked a new friction point for the National Perspective Plan (NPP). Authorities dismantled a two-week-long demonstration by tribal residents opposing the ₹44,000 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project and two state irrigation works. Amid the crackdown, Jai Kisan Sangathan founder Amit Bhatnagar was hospitalized after a 14-day hunger strike, while approximately 150 demonstrators from Panna district were detained and forcibly returned to their localities.

The Ken-Betwa project, the first of 30 proposed inter-river transfers, seeks to divert water from the Ken River to the Betwa basin through the construction of the Daudhan Dam and a 221-kilometer canal network. While the Union government asserts the project will provide drinking water to 6.4 million people and generate 130 MW of combined hydro and solar power, local communities remain skeptical of the social cost. The NPP, originally drafted in 1980 by the Ministry of Irrigation and the Central Water Commission, relies on transferring water from regions deemed to have a surplus to those with deficits.

Demands for Equitable Rehabilitation

Official data indicates the project will displace 7,193 families across 22 villages in Chhatarpur and Panna. Activists and residents have articulated specific demands to address what they describe as structural inequities in the compensation model:

• Individual status for every adult as a distinct beneficiary for the ₹12.5 lakh package, rather than treating entire households as single units.
• Updating the eligibility cut-off date to the present, replacing the current February 16, 2024, deadline.
• Parity in compensation for those affected by the Majhgaon and Runjh irrigation schemes, equal to the Ken-Betwa rates.
• Transparency in Gram Sabha proceedings, which protesters claim were manipulated to manufacture consent.

Bhatnagar has alleged a ₹400-crore corruption scheme, claiming that official surveys include fake beneficiaries while excluding legitimate residents. While Chhatarpur Collector Parth Jaiswal dismissed these claims as misleading, the state government recently approved an additional ₹300 crore to raise compensation levels for local irrigation projects after a new survey identified 750 overlooked families.

Environmental Stakes and Ecological Impact

Beyond the social upheaval, the project faces scrutiny for its footprint within the Panna Tiger Reserve. The Ministry of Jal Shakti has identified 17,101 trees for felling by July 2025 to accommodate infrastructure, with over 12,000 already cleared. This habitat loss threatens the tiger reintroduction program, which successfully restored the population after a local extinction in 2009. Specialized ecosystems for endangered vultures, mahseer fish, and the habitats of the Ken Gharial Sanctuary also face substantial risks. Despite calls for transparency, the Central government continues to withhold hydrological data for the basins, citing their sensitivity as part of the international Ganga system.

Source: The Hindu — National