From Chita Andolan to Jal Satyagrahas: Why the Ken-Betwa project has upset MP tribals
Tribal and farming communities in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur and Panna districts have sustained a prolonged agitation against the Ken-Betwa Link Project, citing inadequate rehabilitation, displacement from ancestral land, and insufficient compensation
The protest has taken several distinct forms over recent months, including Jal Satyagraha (prolonged standing in water), Chita Andolan (a symbolic funeral-pyre protest), Mitti Satyagraha, and an indefinite hunger strike near Kupi village on the Barana river
Project-affected families allege that Gram Sabha consent processes required for land and forest diversion were conducted without adequate notice or were procedurally deficient
Ten villages face complete submergence and several more partial displacement as the project's Daudhan dam reservoir extends into the Panna Tiger Reserve, prompting parallel concerns about wildlife habitat loss
Authorities have at points moved to disperse the demonstrations, while affected communities continue to press for revised rehabilitation terms
Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Gram Sabha consent for forest diversion
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) recognises individual and community rights of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers over forest land they have traditionally occupied, correcting what the Act calls a "historical injustice." Diversion of forest land for non-forest use — such as submergence for a dam reservoir — legally requires that forest rights under the FRA first be settled and that the Gram Sabha record its consent.
Key Details
- Under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change guidelines issued to operationalise the FRA alongside the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, project approval requires a resolution from the concerned Gram Sabha(s) confirming that rights recognition is complete and consenting to the diversion
- The FRA distinguishes Individual Forest Rights (IFR) over cultivated forest land from Community Forest Rights (CFR) over common forest resources; both categories are implicated where entire villages face submergence
- Affected communities in the Ken-Betwa project area allege that Gram Sabha resolutions were recorded without the required public process or before residents were informed of the project's scope
- The Supreme Court's 2019 order (later stayed) on eviction of rejected FRA claimants had earlier underscored how procedural compliance with the Act materially affects displacement outcomes for forest-dwelling communities
The protesters' central grievance — that consent processes were bypassed or fabricated — goes to the heart of the FRA's core safeguard: no forest diversion without documented, informed Gram Sabha consent.
Panna Tiger Reserve and Critical Tiger Habitat under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh is a Project Tiger reserve whose "Critical Tiger Habitat" (CTH) or core area receives the highest legal protection under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006. The Ken-Betwa Link Project's Daudhan dam reservoir submerges a substantial share of this core area.
Key Details
- Government assessments indicate several thousand hectares of forest area under submergence lie within Panna's core tiger habitat, alongside further indirect habitat loss from fragmentation and loss of wildlife corridor connectivity
- Section 38V requires that any change in the boundary of a Critical Tiger Habitat, or use of CTH land for non-forestry purposes, follow a specific process involving the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and, where relocation of rights-holders is involved, their informed consent under both the Wildlife Protection Act and the FRA
- Panna's tiger population had been reintroduced and rebuilt through translocation after local extinction was confirmed in 2009, making habitat integrity in the reserve a closely watched conservation case
- National Park versus Wildlife Sanctuary versus Tiger Reserve: a Tiger Reserve is a statutory category under the Wildlife Protection Act with a notified core (critical tiger habitat, higher protection, inviolate for human use where feasible) and buffer zone, distinct from National Parks (no rights permitted) and Sanctuaries (limited human activity may be allowed)
The submergence of core tiger habitat is a distinct, and separately regulated, dimension of the same project that is driving human displacement — meaning the project requires clearances under both wildlife law and forest-rights law simultaneously.
National Perspective Plan and India's first inter-basin river-linking project
The Ken-Betwa Link Project is the first river interlinking project executed under India's National Perspective Plan (NPP) for inter-basin water transfer, first formulated in 1980, which envisages transferring "surplus" water from water-rich to water-deficit river basins.
Key Details
- The project transfers water from the Ken river (Madhya Pradesh) to the Betwa river (Uttar Pradesh) to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning both states
- An inter-state agreement between the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments was signed on March 22, 2021; the Union Cabinet approved central funding of the project on December 8, 2021, at a total cost of approximately Rs 44,605 crore
- The project's central component is the Daudhan multipurpose dam on the Ken river, whose reservoir causes the bulk of the submergence affecting both tribal villages and the Panna Tiger Reserve
- It is being watched as a precedent for other proposed links under the NPP (such as Damanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi-Narmada), making its rehabilitation and forest-clearance handling a template for future interlinking projects
As the pilot project for India's broader river-interlinking programme, how displacement, compensation, and forest/wildlife clearances are resolved here will likely shape the design of subsequent NPP projects.
Fifth Schedule areas, PESA, 1996 and tribal land safeguards
Parts of Madhya Pradesh, including districts with significant Scheduled Tribe population, fall under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for special administration of "Scheduled Areas" and empowers the Governor to regulate land transfer and applicability of laws to protect tribal interests. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) extends Gram Sabha primacy over land acquisition, resettlement, and resource management in these areas.
Key Details
- PESA, 1996 mandates that the Gram Sabha or Panchayat at the appropriate level be consulted before land acquisition for development projects and before resettlement/rehabilitation of displaced persons in Scheduled Areas
- The Fifth Schedule applies to notified Scheduled Areas within a state (as opposed to the Sixth Schedule, which governs autonomous tribal districts in Northeast India)
- Alleged non-compliance with Gram Sabha consultation requirements under PESA compounds the separate consent requirements under the FRA for forest-dwelling households, creating overlapping legal grounds cited by protesters
Where affected villages lie in Fifth Schedule Scheduled Areas, PESA's Gram Sabha consultation mandate operates alongside — not instead of — the FRA's forest-rights consent requirement, giving displaced communities two distinct statutory consultation claims.
- Ken-Betwa Link Project: first river-interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan (1980); inter-state agreement signed March 22, 2021; Cabinet funding approval December 8, 2021 at ~Rs 44,605 crore
- Ten villages face complete submergence; several thousand families in the wider project area face full or partial displacement
- A substantial share of the Daudhan dam's forest submergence area falls within Panna Tiger Reserve's core Critical Tiger Habitat, with additional indirect habitat loss from fragmentation
- Rehabilitation package options reported for displaced families include a one-time grant plus urban/rural plot, or a cash-only alternative, under the project's resettlement policy
- Protest forms recorded: Jal Satyagraha, Chita Andolan, Mitti Satyagraha, and an indefinite hunger strike centred near Kupi village, Chhatarpur district
- Panna Tiger Reserve's tiger population was locally extinct by 2009 and rebuilt through a translocation-based reintroduction programme