‘We don’t want to leave’: why Adivasis are resisting the Ken-Betwa river link
Villagers in Chhatarpur and Panna districts of Madhya Pradesh's Bundelkhand region are resisting displacement caused by the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project, India's first river interlinking scheme
The project's Daudhan dam, being built inside the Panna Tiger Reserve, will submerge around 9,000 hectares of land, including a large core area of the reserve, affecting close to 1,900-plus families across around 10 villages facing full or partial submergence
Current compensation norms offer Rs 12.5 lakh per adult resident (aged 18 or older as of a February 2024 cut-off) along with Rs 5 lakh per acre of acquired land, but affected households report exclusions, incomplete payouts, and no compensation for loss of forest-based livelihoods such as mahua and tendu leaf collection
Protests have included sit-ins and symbolic demonstrations demanding land-for-land and forest-for-forest resettlement instead of cash-only compensation
The project has been formally commissioned, but rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families remains contested and incomplete
National River Linking Project (NRLP) and the Ken-Betwa Link
The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the first project to be implemented under India's National Perspective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of rivers, originally formulated in 1980 by the then Ministry of Irrigation to transfer water from surplus to deficit basins. It aims to divert water from the Ken river (Madhya Pradesh) to the Betwa river (Uttar Pradesh) via the Daudhan dam and a canal network, to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, and Jhansi districts.
Key Details
- National Perspective Plan (1980) identified 30 river links nationally — 14 Himalayan and 16 Peninsular component links
- National Water Development Agency (NWDA), set up in 1982, conducts feasibility and water-balance studies for these links
- The Supreme Court's judgment of 27 February 2012 (on writ petitions concerning interlinking of rivers) directed the Union government to set up a special committee to expedite implementation
- The Ken-Betwa project was inaugurated in December 2024 as the first river-linking project to move from planning to execution
The ongoing Adivasi resistance is a direct, real-world consequence of implementing the NPP's oldest and most contested proposal — illustrating the gap between national water-transfer planning and the ground-level rehabilitation obligations owed to displaced communities.
Critical Wildlife Habitat and Tiger Reserve Relocation under the Forest Rights Act, 2006
The Daudhan dam submerges a significant part of the core critical tiger habitat of the Panna Tiger Reserve, a Project Tiger reserve notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Relocation from tiger reserves and critical wildlife habitats (CWH) is governed jointly by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA).
Key Details
- FRA, 2006 defines Critical Wildlife Habitats as areas of national parks/sanctuaries required to be kept inviolate for wildlife conservation; a CWH can be notified only after forest rights of residents are recognised and settled
- Voluntary relocation from a tiger reserve requires the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Gram Sabha, obtained under Section 4(2) of the FRA read with the Wildlife (Protection) Act's tiger reserve relocation guidelines
- The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (as amended in 2006) inserted Chapter IV-B creating the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to oversee core/buffer notification and relocation of tiger reserves
- Reports indicate the project also involves adding forest area elsewhere to the Panna reserve to compensate for core-area loss to submergence
Villagers' demand for "forest for forest, land for land" reflects the FRA's legal standard of informed consent and adequate rehabilitation before relocation from a critical tiger habitat — a standard affected families say has not been fully met in practice.
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR Act, 2013)
Compensation for land acquired for public infrastructure projects like dams and canals is governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act), which replaced the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
Key Details
- The Act mandates a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) before acquisition for projects displacing large populations, and consent requirements for private/PPP projects
- Compensation is computed using a multiplier (up to 2x market value in urban areas, up to 4x in rural areas) plus a solatium
- The Act requires a comprehensive Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package, not compensation alone, including land-for-land options where government land is available, particularly for Scheduled Tribe families
- Special safeguards under the Act require that, as far as possible, land acquisition in Scheduled Areas be avoided, and where unavoidable, be a last resort with Gram Sabha consultation
The complaint that only cash compensation (not land or forest access) is being offered runs against the RFCTLARR Act's stated preference for land-based rehabilitation packages, especially for tribal households whose livelihoods depend on common forest resources.
- Compensation offered: Rs 12.5 lakh per eligible adult (18+ as of February 2024) plus Rs 5 lakh per acre of acquired land
- Affected families: approximately 1,900+, across roughly 10 villages facing full or partial submergence in Chhatarpur and Panna districts, Madhya Pradesh
- Land to be submerged: approximately 9,000 hectares, including core area of Panna Tiger Reserve
- National Perspective Plan (1980): 30 identified river links (14 Himalayan + 16 Peninsular)
- NWDA established: 1982
- Supreme Court interlinking judgment: 27 February 2012
- Project inaugurated: December 2024