Tribal women on 15-day hunger strike against Ken-Betwa project in MP

Scores of protesters, mainly tribal women, have been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past 15 days against the Ken-Betwa river linking project in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The protesters are alleging inadequate rehabilitation and displacement-related injustices.

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The protest is being held on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village in Chhatarpur district.

During the course of the demonstration, the protesters have resorted to different forms of protests, including ‘jal satyagraha’, ‘chita satyagraha’ and, since the eighth day of the agitation, a symbolic ‘faansi satyagraha’.

The Ken-Betwa Link Project, the country’s first river interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan, seeks to transfer surplus water from the Ken river to the Betwa river to provide irrigation and drinking water in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The project has, however, drawn opposition from sections of project-affected families and environmental groups over issues relating to displacement, rehabilitation and its impact on forests and wildlife, including parts of the Panna Tiger Reserve.

Meanwhile, district administration authorities said that the state government had sanctioned an additional Rs 202.50 crore for rehabilitation and resettlement, and enhanced rehabilitation assistance from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 12.50 lakh per affected family.

The administration said the additional allocation, the first of its kind for the project, would facilitate timely rehabilitation of eligible beneficiaries.

Collector Parth Jaiswal has instructed officials to make adequate arrangements for drinking water, food, healthcare and other essential facilities at the protest site on humanitarian grounds. Besides, Medical staff and medicines had also been deployed at a nearby health centre, while local authorities were monitoring the arrangements.