Ken-Betwa, other protests underline need to adopt a comprehensive strategy that recognises interdependence of ecosystems, communities and economies
Protests linked to the Ken-Betwa river-linking project and related infrastructure works have highlighted concerns over biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation from the proposed Daudhan Dam.
The project requires diversion of forest and protected-area land, affecting portions of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Local communities have raised concerns about displacement, inadequate participation in environmental clearance processes, language barriers, and limited access to project information.
Analysts drew parallels with infrastructure-linked ecological stress elsewhere, citing subsidence in Joshimath (Uttarakhand) as evidence of recurring gaps in cumulative impact assessment across India's large infrastructure projects.
Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) — India's First River-Interlinking Project
The KBLP transfers surplus water from the Ken river to the water-deficit Betwa river via the Daudhan Dam and a connecting canal, to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It is the first of the 30 links identified for implementation under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for river interlinking.
Key Details
- NPP prepared by the then Ministry of Irrigation in August 1980; the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), set up in 1982, identified 30 links nationally — 16 under the Peninsular component and 14 under the Himalayan component. KBLP is the first Peninsular-component link to be implemented.
- Union Cabinet approved KBLP in December 2021 at a cost of ₹44,605 crore, to be implemented by the Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority.
- The Daudhan Dam is designed as a 96.7-metre-high, 2.5-km-wide structure on the Ken river, located upstream of the existing Gangau Weir.
- Projected benefits: irrigation to about 10.62 lakh hectares across Chhatarpur, Panna and Tikamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Banda, Mahoba and Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), plus drinking water for about 62 lakh people.
The protests target precisely this project's ecological footprint — the Daudhan Dam's submergence zone lies within the Panna Tiger Reserve, making KBLP a live test case for how India balances the National Perspective Plan's water-transfer goals against forest and wildlife protection law.
Panna Tiger Reserve and Wildlife (Protection) Act Safeguards
Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh is directly affected by the KBLP submergence area, making the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA) central to the project's clearance process. Diversion of tiger-reserve land for non-forestry use requires the recommendation of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) on the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Key Details
- Panna was notified a national park in 1981 and declared India's 22nd Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1994; total area is about 542.67 sq. km.
- Panna suffered a complete local extinction of tigers by 2009 due to poaching; a joint NTCA–Madhya Pradesh Forest Department–Wildlife Institute of India reintroduction programme (2009 onward) rebuilt the population to over 50 tigers by 2020, making it a global conservation-recovery case study.
- The tiger (Panthera tigris) is listed in Schedule I of the WLPA (highest protection) and as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List.
- Section 38-O(g) of the WLPA bars diversion of tiger reserves (or corridors linking protected areas) for ecologically unsustainable use except in "public interest," and only with NBWL approval on NTCA's advice — the exact statutory hurdle KBLP's submergence zone must clear.
Protesters' biodiversity-loss concerns map directly onto this statutory scheme — any Daudhan Dam submergence inside Panna Tiger Reserve requires the Section 38-O(g) NBWL/NTCA clearance route, over and above ordinary forest and environmental clearances.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Process and Cumulative Impact Gaps
River valley projects like KBLP fall under Category A of the EIA Notification, 2006, requiring central-level appraisal and public consultation before environmental clearance — the very process protesters say has been inadequate.
Key Details
- Category A projects are appraised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) based on the recommendation of an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC); Category B projects are appraised at the state level by a State EAC (SEAC).
- Public consultation — comprising a public hearing at the project site and a 30-day public-comment window — is mandatory for Category A and Category B1 projects under the 2006 Notification.
- River valley project environmental clearances are typically valid for 10 years under the Notification.
- Critics cite recurring weaknesses in "cumulative impact assessment" — the EIA framework evaluates individual projects but does not systematically assess combined downstream, seasonal-flow, and multi-project ecological effects, a gap illustrated by both KBLP's biodiversity concerns and unrelated Himalayan subsidence cases such as Joshimath.
The article's central argument — that ecosystems, communities and economies are interdependent and need a "comprehensive strategy" — is essentially a critique of the EIA framework's project-by-project, rather than cumulative, appraisal design.
- KBLP approved: December 2021; cost ₹44,605 crore; first of 30 NPP-identified river links (16 Peninsular, 14 Himalayan).
- Daudhan Dam: 96.7 m high, 2.5 km wide, on the Ken river.
- Irrigation benefit: ~10.62 lakh hectares; drinking water benefit: ~62 lakh people.
- Panna Tiger Reserve: notified national park 1981; declared Tiger Reserve (22nd under Project Tiger) in 1994; area ~542.67 sq. km.
- Panna tiger local extinction: 2009 (zero tigers); reintroduction from Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves; population recovered to 50+ by 2020.
- Tiger conservation status: Schedule I, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; "Endangered," IUCN Red List.
- WLPA Section 38-O(g): bars ecologically unsustainable diversion of tiger reserves without NBWL approval on NTCA's advice.
- EIA Notification, 2006: Category A projects need central MoEFCC/EAC clearance; river valley project clearances valid for 10 years.