Why are there protests over the Ken-Betwa project?
Communities affected by the Ken-Betwa Link Project's Daudhan Dam, being built on the Ken river in Madhya Pradesh, have renewed protests over displacement, compensation and rehabilitation
The dam and its reservoir require large-scale land submergence in Chhatarpur and Panna districts, affecting several thousand families across the two districts
Affected families have alleged discrepancies and irregularities in compensation surveys and are demanding land-for-land and village-for-village resettlement rather than cash compensation alone
Conservationists have separately flagged concerns over the project's impact on the core critical tiger habitat of the Panna Tiger Reserve, through which the dam and reservoir pass
The National Perspective Plan and India's First River-Linking Project
The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the first project to be implemented under India's decades-old river-interlinking framework, the National Perspective Plan (NPP), formulated by the Ministry of Irrigation in August 1980 to transfer water from surplus to deficit river basins.
Key Details
- The National Water Development Agency (NWDA), set up in 1982, carries out feasibility studies for all inter-basin transfer links under the NPP
- KBLP aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river (Madhya Pradesh) to the Betwa river (Uttar Pradesh), both tributaries of the Yamuna, to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning both states
- A tripartite Memorandum of Agreement was signed on 22 March 2021 between the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments to implement the project
- The Union Cabinet approved the project in December 2021 at an estimated cost of ₹44,605 crore, with implementation entrusted to the Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA), a dedicated special-purpose vehicle
As the pilot project for the NPP, KBLP's execution — including how it handles displacement and ecological trade-offs — is being watched closely as a template (or cautionary example) for roughly 30 other river-linking proposals under the same national plan.
The Daudhan Dam and Panna Tiger Reserve — Core Habitat at Stake
The project's centrepiece, the Daudhan Dam, is being constructed on the Ken river within the boundaries of the Panna Tiger Reserve, submerging part of its core critical tiger habitat — the most strictly protected zone under India's tiger conservation framework.
Key Details
- The Daudhan Dam is designed to be approximately 77 metres high and about 2.13 km long, with an associated 221-km link canal and hydropower units (about 103 MW)
- Estimates of submergence within the reserve's core area vary by source — a commonly cited figure is roughly 5,800 hectares (about 10% of Panna's critical tiger habitat), though some environmental assessments cite higher percentages; the range reflects differing baselines and should be read as [Unverified] pending an official post-construction assessment
- Panna Tiger Reserve, notified in 1994 under Project Tiger (launched 1973), had lost its entire tiger population by 2009 and was repopulated through a reintroduction programme starting in June 2009 using tigresses from Bandhavgarh and Kanha and a male from Pench — now regarded as one of India's most successful tiger recovery stories
- The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 requires diversion of land within a tiger reserve's core/critical tiger habitat to go through the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and, where core forest land is involved, the Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee
Conservationist objections to the project stem directly from this core-habitat submergence, since the same recovery success that makes Panna a conservation model also makes any core-area loss ecologically significant.
Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Consent of the Gram Sabha
Displacement from forest and tiger-reserve land is governed by the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, which requires the free, informed consent of the Gram Sabha before any resettlement, and by the parallel "Critical Wildlife Habitat" and "Critical Tiger Habitat" provisions that apply inside protected areas.
Key Details
- Under the FRA framework, rights-holders in a critical wildlife habitat can be resettled only if it is scientifically established that coexistence with wildlife is not possible, no other conservation option exists, and the affected Gram Sabha gives written, informed consent to the resettlement package
- The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the FRA, 2006 both require Gram Sabha consent before forest land is diverted for non-forest use
- Affected communities in the Ken-Betwa project area have alleged that individual and community forest rights claims were not settled before displacement proceedings began, a recurring point of contention in Indian forest-diversion projects
- The FRA recognises both Individual Forest Rights (IFR) over land under cultivation and Community Forest Rights (CFR) over common forest resources
Protesting families' core legal grievance is that displacement is proceeding without the FRA's sequencing being fully honoured — rights recognition and Gram Sabha consent are meant to precede resettlement, not follow it.
RFCTLARR Act, 2013 — Compensation and Resettlement Entitlements
Land acquisition and rehabilitation for the project fall under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, which replaced the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and made resettlement — not just cash payment — a statutory entitlement.
Key Details
- The Act mandates a Social Impact Assessment (SIA), conducted in consultation with local Panchayats, before land acquisition for a project
- It entitles displaced families to rehabilitation benefits including alternative land or housing, a one-time resettlement allowance, a monthly subsistence grant for a fixed period, and preference in project-linked employment, in addition to monetary compensation
- Compensation for land is computed at a multiple of market value (up to four times in rural areas) under the Act's First Schedule
- Affected families in the Ken-Betwa project have demanded "land for land, village for village" resettlement — keeping displaced communities together — rather than dispersed cash payouts, citing the loss of shared socio-cultural practices
The current round of protests centres on whether the rehabilitation package on offer meets RFCTLARR's statutory entitlements, or falls back on cash-only compensation that the Act was specifically designed to move beyond.
- Ken-Betwa Link Project: first project under the 1980 National Perspective Plan for river interlinking; approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2021 at ₹44,605 crore
- Daudhan Dam: approximately 77 metres high, 2.13 km long, on the Ken river within Panna Tiger Reserve; linked by a 221-km canal to the Betwa basin
- Panna Tiger Reserve: notified 1994 under Project Tiger (1973); lost all tigers by 2009, repopulated via reintroduction from Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench starting June 2009
- Estimated core-habitat submergence: commonly cited at roughly 5,800 hectares / about 10% of critical tiger habitat, though other estimates are considerably higher [Unverified — range not reconciled across sources]
- RFCTLARR Act, 2013 compensation multiple: up to 4 times market value in rural areas
- Displaced families across Chhatarpur and Panna districts number in the several thousands, with affected communities demanding land-for-land and village-for-village resettlement over cash compensation