A 15-day-long protest against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and other development works in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district came to an end on Sunday after police cleared the demonstration site and transported 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 adopted various forms of demonstration, including jal satyagraha, chita (funeral pyre) satyagraha, and a symbolic faansi satyagraha. Amit Bhatnagar, who was leading the agitation, had been on an indefinite hunger strike for 11 days.Police cite safety concerns, protesters allege detentionsProtest leader Divya Ahirwar alleged that a heavy police contingent arrived at the site around 5 am on Sunday and detained Bhatnagar along with several protesters before he could address the media. She claimed the action was aimed at silencing allegations of corruption worth Rs 400 crore in the implementation of the project.However, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aditya Patle denied that any arrests or detentions had been made. He said protesters were transported by buses to their native villages, with those from Panna district taken back there and others dropped in Chhatarpur and nearby areas.Explaining the police action, Patle said a team of doctors accompanied the police and district administration to conduct medical check-ups of those at the protest site.“A team of doctors came here along with the police and the administration so that they could conduct a basic medical check-up. The women who were present here were also peacefully seated in buses and dropped back to their homes because this is an under-construction bridge, and due to the rains, the river’s water level has risen. Therefore, the area was not considered safe, so they were moved from the site,” Patle said.Protest centred on displacement, rehabilitation concernsThe protest was directed against the Ken-Betwa river-linking project and other development initiatives, with demonstrators alleging irregularities in land acquisition, rehabilitation, environmental safeguards and project implementation.Bhatnagar claimed that families affected by the Ken-Betwa Link Project, as well as the Majhgaon and Runjh irrigation projects, had been denied justice. He alleged that displaced communities had lost land, forests, water sources, livelihoods and cultural identity, while some villagers had faced false criminal cases, forced evictions, power disconnections and demolition of schools.The protesters also alleged that assurances made by the administration in April had not been fulfilled and demanded that authorities stop intimidating villagers and publicly display the list of project-affected families in every village.The administration, however, has rejected the allegations, maintaining that the project is being implemented in accordance with the law. It has described the Ken-Betwa Link Project as a nationally significant initiative that will improve irrigation, drinking water supply and overall development in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
