Police clear 15-day protest against Ken-Betwa Link Project in Chhatarpur, cite rising river levels
Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday cleared the demonstration site in chatarpur where the protesters had been protesting from the last 15 days against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and other development projects. Police has not only cleared the protest but also transported the protesters back to their respective villages.
The agitation, led primarily by tribal women, had been underway since July 3 on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village. Protesters had adopted various forms of demonstration, including jal satyagraha, chita satyagraha and a symbolic faansi satyagraha.
Protest leader Amit Bhatnagar had also been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past 11 days. Divya Ahirwar, one of the organiser of the protest, alleged that a large police contingent reached the protest site around 5 am on Sunday and detained Bhatnagar along with several protesters before he could address the media.
She claimed the action was intended to suppress allegations of corruption worth Rs 400 crore in the implementation of the project. However, Additional Superintendent of Police Aditya Patle denied that any arrests or detentions had taken place.
According to Patle, protesters were transported by buses to their native villages, with residents of Panna district taken back there while others were dropped at Chhatarpur and nearby areas.
The police said doctors accompanied the administration to conduct basic medical examinations of those present at the protest site.
Patle said the protesters, including women, were peacefully shifted because the demonstration was taking place near an under-construction bridge and the rising water level in the Barana river due to rainfall had made the area unsafe.
The agitation was directed against the Ken-Betwa river-linking project and other development initiatives in the region.
Amit Bhatnagar alleged that families affected by the Ken-Betwa Link Project, along with the Majhgaon and Runjh irrigation projects, had not received justice.
He claimed displaced communities had lost agricultural land, forests, water sources, livelihoods and cultural identity. He also alleged that some villagers had faced false criminal cases, forced evictions, electricity disconnections and demolition of schools.
The protesters further claimed that assurances made by the administration in April had not been implemented. They demanded an end to alleged intimidation of villagers and sought public display of the list of project-affected families in every village.
The administration has rejected the allegations, maintaining that the project is being implemented in accordance with the law.
Officials described the Ken-Betwa Link Project as a nationally significant initiative aimed at improving irrigation, drinking water supply and overall development across the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.