AJAYGARH, India – In the shallow waters of the Ken River, tribal resident Bitti Bai Kondar stood knee‑deep, mud smeared on her face to symbolize her family’s century‑long connection to the land. She joined hundreds of women and men from the Panna district who are protesting the Indian government’s $87 billion river‑linking program.
Local families feel displaced
Kondar, a mother of four adult sons, says rising water from construction has already flooded her village. “The government is taking our land and water without giving us another place to live,” she said, while lying on a mock funeral pyre with other protesters. “They’re digging up our soil to build their dam, but they’re not giving us enough compensation to rebuild our lives.”
The government has offered at least 1.25 million rupees (about $13,000) per hectare to residents along the Ken River, more than double the original 500,000‑rupee offer. District administrator Usha Parmar says compensation has been paid to over 90 % of affected families, but many locals argue the payments do not cover the full loss of homes, farmland and cultural sites.
Temple submerged, livelihoods lost
Local priest Dhaniram Bhatnagar described how the temple where he served was completely submerged, cutting off his only source of income. “The compensation offered by the government is only for my home, and that is not enough,” he said.
Environmental concerns raised
Environmentalists have warned that the 2‑km Daudhan Dam on the Ken River will inundate roughly 9,000 hectares, including a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve, one of India’s most successful tiger‑conservation programs. Critics argue the project’s scientific basis is shaky. Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, said, “There is a big question mark over this project’s feasibility because it rests on a hydrological presumption: a surplus in the Ken basin and a deficit in the Betwa basin. That presumption has never been conclusively established.”
A government spokeswoman declined to comment on the scientific assumptions, referring Reuters to an August statement that the project aims to address chronic water scarcity in the Bundelkhand region by providing irrigation, drinking water and hydropower.
National ambition meets local resistance
The river‑linking scheme, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeks to connect about 30 rivers across India to redistribute water to drought‑prone areas and boost food security for tens of millions of farmers. While the national government touts the plan as a long‑term solution to water scarcity, the protests in Madhya Pradesh illustrate the human cost of large‑scale infrastructure projects.
As the first phase links the Ken River in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa River in Uttar Pradesh, the government must balance its development goals with the legitimate concerns of tribal communities, religious sites and fragile ecosystems. The outcome of these protests could shape how future phases of the river‑linking program are implemented.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
