Ken-Betwa Project: Madhya Pradesh Police Clear Tribal Protest Over Rehabilitation Concerns
Early on Sunday, July 19, 2026, Madhya Pradesh Police personnel arrived on the banks of the Barana river stream in Kupi village, Chhatarpur district, and cleared a protest site where hundreds of villagers, mostly tribals, had been demonstrating for two weeks against the Union Government's ₹44,000 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) and two irrigation projects of the Madhya Pradesh Government.
The police also took local activist Amit Bhatnagar, founder of Jai Kisan Sangathan, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike for 14 days, and admitted him to a government hospital. Nearly 150 protesters, most from neighbouring Panna district, were taken in buses and dropped in their villages.
Videos from the scene showed protesters standing in the middle of the river holding onto each other amid heavy water flow, women being dragged away from the shore, and personnel carrying Mr. Bhatnagar into an ambulance. The demonstration gained national attention, with protesters placing nooses around their necks and lying on symbolic pyres inside the water, raising the slogan 'nyaya do ya maar do' (either give us justice or kill us).
The unique protest, first held in April, was relaunched earlier this month after government efforts failed to convince the villagers. Protesters demand improved rehabilitation and compensation packages for families facing displacement by the dam, and allege irregularities in selection of eligible people for compensation.
What is the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project?
The Ken-Betwa Link Project is the first of 30 such link projects under a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for water resources development and interlinking of rivers, formulated in 1980 by the Ministry of Irrigation and the Central Water Commission. The NPP includes 14 Himalayan and 16 Peninsular river links.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on December 25, 2024, in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, for the construction of the Daudhan dam. The project plans to transfer surplus water from the Ken river via a 221-km canal (including a 2-km tunnel) to the Betwa river. It is expected to generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.
The project aims to address water shortages in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region, providing drinking water to 4.4 million people in 12 districts of Madhya Pradesh and over 2 million people in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Bundelkhand, a partly-hilly region spanning 13 districts, has long suffered droughts and water scarcity and is among India's most socio-economically backward regions.
According to the Union Government, 7,193 families from 14 villages in Chhatarpur and eight villages in Panna district face displacement due to the project. The affected families, largely tribal, demand better compensation and rehabilitation.
